Turning invasive alien plants into crafts to support people living with disabilities: this is one of the new projects receiving support from the Agulhas Biodiversity Initiative (ABI) Small Grants Programme.
The ABI programme has selected five new projects for the year. The projects work to contribute to biodiversity conservation and environmental education in the Overberg. The ABI Small Grants Programme is funded by the Table Mountain Fund, an associated trust of WWF-South Africa.
The five projects each receive support of up to R20,000. They encourage municipal support and involvement, in an attempt to entrench conservation-related themes into municipal activities.
The five projects are:
Mind Over Matter – managed by the Greyton Disability Forum. This project makes use of invasive alien material as crafts. The crafts are sold at the local museum, with the funds used to support either people living with disabilities, or parents of disabled children.
LEAP Frogs – managed by the Skills Exchange Cooperative. LEAP Frogs provides holistic development to children in the Baardskeerdersbos area on an extra-curricular basis, encouraging cognitive, emotional and social development.
Fishing Line Recovery – managed by Dyer Island Conservation Trust. The project raises awareness on how fishing line debris impacts marine life, water quality, and ultimately human welfare. Fishing line recycling bins have been placed at strategic spots in the Overstrand area.
Amanzi Library – managed by Whale Coast Conservation. This digital library is available to teachers and children, and houses topics related to water dealt with through the national curriculum. The library will be available to schools throughout the Overberg.
Radio Overberg Connect – managed by Radio Overberg. Through this project, information will be provided to listeners of the radio station, to inform them on biodiversity conservation and related topics (linked to ABI’s four themes).
The ABI Small Grants Programme is now in its third year. The call for final applications will open by the end of January 2016. More information will appear on the ABI website: www.agulhasbiodiversity.co.za.