Ray C. Anderson Foundation's NextGen Committee Grants $94,000 to Women’s Earth Alliance for Reforestation Efforts in Indonesia and Kenya
November 28, 2023 /3BL/ - The Ray C. Anderson Foundation’s NextGen Committee has awarded a $94,000 grant to Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) for two of their Women in Forests programs in Indonesia and Kenya.
WEA’s Women and Forests program is designed to enhance women’s leadership in community-led forest restoration and protection efforts around the world. They partner with local women-led NGOs to co-design community centered programs, providing grassroots and indigenous women leaders with the skills, tools, and resources they need to grow the impact of their land protection, conservation, and climate resiliency initiatives.
The NextGen Committee’s grant funds will be directed towards projects; the Clungup Mangrove and Native Forest Conservation (CMC) project in Indonesia, and the Kakamega Rainforest in Kenya.
"Women are incredible environmental leaders all around the world, but so often under-resourced, “ said John A. Lanier, Executive Director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation. “WEA is working to solve that, and these two projects are important examples of their inspiring work. On behalf of the entire NextGen Committee, we are grateful to WEA and the women leaders in Indonesia and Kenya who are supported by this grant."
"This grant will enable WEA to deepen our long-standing work to equip grassroots women in Kenya and Indonesia with skills and resources to excel as conservationists and land stewards,” said Melinda Kramer, WEA Co-Founder and Co-Director. “We are thrilled to partner with the Ray C. Anderson Foundation to build the capacity of grassroots forest protectors in these regions, and to support their initiatives to protect and regenerate degraded forests, sequester carbon, and create viable livelihood alternatives that reverse deforestation and promote long-term forest and community resilience.”
Clungup Mangrove and Native Forest Conservation, Indonesia
In Indonesia, WEA leaders have restored 20 square miles of coral reefs and 13 miles of shoreline, while integrating local communities in decision-making, generating sustainable jobs, and collectively benefitting 40,000 people.
The NextGen Committee’s grant will support work to replace mangrove seedlings and tree planting efforts led by Lia Putrinda Anggawa Mukti, Co-Founder of Bhakti Alam Sendang Biru Foundation, a participant in WEA’s 2019 Indonesia Women and Forests Accelerator Program who is also known as the “Mother of Mangroves.”
Kakamega Rainforest, Kenya
The Committee’s grant will also fund reforestation efforts in the Kakamega Rainforest—the last remaining tropical rainforest in Kenya. Grant funds in Kenya will be directed to WEA and Women in Water and Natural Resource Conservation (WWANC), a Kenyan, women-led NGO. The two organizations are working in partnership to restore the Kakamega Rainforest and promote women’s participation in community-led forest restoration. Women participating in the program establish tree nurseries and train others in forest management, ensuring ongoing rehabilitation, restoration, and protection of this critical ecosystem. The promotion of women’s leadership in community-led forest restoration cultivates widespread community buy-in on time-tested climate adaptation measures for long-term climate resilience.
About the NextGen Committee:
Ray C. Anderson’s five grandchildren, along with their spouses, comprise the NextGen Committee. The Committee makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation for worthwhile grants and initiatives. The Committee has awarded over half a million dollars in grants related to climate change mitigation and education since 2014.
About WEA:
Women’s Earth Alliance (WEA) empowers women’s leadership to protect our environment, end the climate crisis, and ensure a just, thriving world. Since 2006, WEA has catalyzed over 35,000 women-led environmental justice projects in 30 countries, ensuring health, safety, economic stability, educational opportunities, and wellbeing for thousands of women — all while proliferating life-saving solutions like safe water and sanitation, food security, clean energy, waste management, and reforestation. WEA invests in and equips grassroots women leaders with the technical tools, entrepreneurial skills, financial resources, and networks of support they need to scale their solutions for change — because when grassroots women leaders take action to prevent environmental destruction and build healthier and more climate resilient communities, real transformation takes root.
