The European Union (EU) is funding a biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability project in central Đà Nẵng City in 42 months from July 2020, to the end of December 2023, with total funding of 650,000 euros.
The project, entitled ‘Establishing a funding foundation for biodiversity protection and environmental sustainability in Đà Nẵng’, aims to strengthen civil society organisations (CSOs) of the city and the central and Central Highlands provinces in environmental protection by diversifying financial resources.
“The event is held at the time when the COVID-19 pandemic has again shown us the importance of living in harmony with nature. We are convinced the project will bring tangible results on biodiversity conservation through the effective operation of the foundation”, Jesús Laviña, Deputy Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Việt Nam, said at the launching ceremony last week.
“We believe that this project will motivate and support local CSOs in initiating practical projects to help the Government effectively address issues related to biodiversity conservation and sustainable environmental protection in Đà Nẵng and the central and Central Highlands regions,” said Dr Hà Thăng Long, chairman of the GreenViet’s Founding Council.
“Resolving the problem of finance and improving technical capacity and financial management to local CSOs is an effective method to sustain the contribution of local conservation organisations to the city and the region,” he added.
This project will help diversify financing resources for Vietnamese CSOs including 50 groups and organisations working in biodiversity conservation and environmental protection, and fund 21 biodiversity conservation initiatives.
It will also help build capacity for raising awareness and cooperation among businesses and individuals to provide sustainable funding for conservation, communication and education, patrolling and monitoring to protect the red-shanked douc langurs, the endangered primates in Sơn Trà peninsula.
Bùi Thị Minh Châu, representative of the Gustav-Stresemann Institute (GSI, Germany), co-coordinator of the project affirmed: “This project contributes a unique initiative to the city that is to research and develop feasible mechanisms for businesses, local community and tourists (domestic and international) to participate in the conservation of nature and environmental protection of Đà Nẵng and the central and Central Highlands regions.”
“This initiative not only helps conservation CSOs to have more diverse financial resources from the private sector and community but also brings a new and innovative direction for businesses, individuals and tourists to directly contribute to protecting the environment of the city in a more sustainable way,” she said.
The project is implemented by GreenViet Biodiversity Conservation Centre (GreenViet) – lead organisation (Vietnam) and Gustav-Stresemann Institute e.V. (GSI) (Germany). The project is co-funded by the Delegation of the European Union to Vietnam.
Visible Impact is partnering with GSI to conduct several project activities.