When Ford Motor Co and its partners announce an open call for grant proposals in a market, all individuals, communities, non-profit groups and institutions that have projects in the areas of environmental preservation, environmental education or conservation engineering are eligible to apply.
Application process:
After a grant is allocated for a given country, Ford and its dealership partners in the market set their own timelines for proposal submissions. Applicants refer to the regional Ford websites for more information.
Selection process:
Criteria for screening and selecting Ford environmental grant applicants are global. An appointed jury panel, comprised of independent local and international experts in different areas of conservation, select grant recipients based on the following criteria:
Usefulness and practicality of the project
Past and current dedication to environmental preservation, education or conservation engineering
Financial requirements
Originality of the proposal
Potential to replicate the program
Below are selected Ford-driven environmental projects that have seen great success across the region.
Indonesia
Archeological Excavation of the Ancient Buddhist
Sites of Batujaya
This was a heritage project aimed at rediscovering the ancient temple sites in the Batujaya area of Krawang. Remnants of Buddhist relics have been discovered on the sites and have also contained the landmark of a temple. The remnants that were formerly scattered around rice fields in Krawang were labeled and recorded for future use and research. The funds received from Ford were used to assist the daily administrative needs of the large-scale project.
Malaysia
Rehabilitation Centre
Ford Motor Company has donated to numerous Malaysian organisations working for wildlife protection, environmental preservation and child welfare and development. Among others, recipients of Ford grants in
Malaysia have included the NGO, Prihatin Malaysia, who received $10,000 to run a youth and environmental awareness and education program in the tsunami-affected area of Kota Kuala Muda and the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre.
Mongolia
Sustainable gardening, soil preservation, biomass to make bio-gas, and microorganism technology to detoxify waste water. The first-ever Ford Conservation and Environmental Grants winners in Mongolia (2012) included four projects spread across a variety of environmental fields.
The Tolgoit Community Development Center received a $5,000 grant to build a community garden and engage residents in sustainable gardening, while the Mongolian Academy of Sciences was given a $4,000 grant to reduce waste water and mud pollution with effective microorganism (EM) technology. Additionally, the Science and Production Association was provided with a $4000 grant to use biomass to generate bio-gas electricity, while Eco Balance, an NGO, received $2,000 to educate farmers on the advantages of soil conservation.
Knuckles Forest Reserve Fire Prevention
The Fire Prevention in Knuckles Forest Reserve project was the winning Ford environmental grant entry in Sri Lanka. The project received $10,000 and is now developing prevention measures to minimise the damage caused by forest fires in the Knuckles Forest Reserve, situated in the highlands of Sri Lanka.
Taiwan
The Purple Butterfly Valley
“The Purple Butterfly Valley” in Maolin is a rare valley for wintering, migrating butterflies, comparable to the Monarch Butterfly Reserve in Mexico’s Chincua Mountains. They are the only two butterfly habitats of this kind in the world.
The priority of the conservation project is to rehabilitate the devastated habitat in the valley and to cultivate the plants that provide butterflies with the source of honey and shelter for the butterfly larvae.
Thailand
Youth Nature and Camping Project
The project brought together Thai youth living in national — park areas with youth from urban areas to participate in camping trips inside Thailand’s national parks.
The youth were supervised by trained mentors from the Nature Conservation Club, Mahidol University. The project created awareness and educated Thai youth about the importance of Mother Nature and natural resources.
