Six Syrian recipients of the Ford Motors Grant for Environment

Fourteen environmental projects will share a total of $90,000 in grants from Ford Motor Company this year, as part of the companies Conservation & Environmental Grants program in the GCC and Levant countries. The winning projects were chosen by an independent panel of judges comprising nine conservation and environmental experts and academics from the participating countries. The 14 projects were chosen from six countries and the grants ranged from US$1,600 to US$18,000. Since its inception in the region in 2000, the Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environ-mental Grants have awarded a total of US$690,000 to nearly 90 projects. One of the recipients of the 2007-2008 Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants was Syria. One of the projects that won in Syria include reforestation of Mount Saydeh, which was given a grant of $6,000. Another project was Flora Syria Online, submitted by Muwafaq al-Cheikh, in the category of Natural Environment, getting $2,000. A third project targeted the greening of arid areas in coastal mountains, receiving $5,000. The big award went to a cleanup volunteer group from Latakia, who worked on beautifying their city, and got $16,000.