Six Community-led Environmental Projects in Savaii get Funding

Apia, Samoa – 02 April 2025 – The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) is once again supporting local communities who are at great risk from climate change due to their fragile ecosystems.

Six Community-based organizations in Savaii have been awarded financial grants from the GEF-SGP, totalling over US$233,652, which will be used to implement environmental projects. The projects include wetland restoration, securing of marine protected areas, protection of marine ecosystems, freshwater pools rehabilitation, and increasing the resilience of spring pools to natural disasters.

An inception workshop was held last Friday in Savaii for the successful grantees, to provide an opportunity for the GEF-SGP team to clarify any queries that the project leaders may have, and to help build their capacity in implementing their approved Memorandum of Agreements.

“It’s an honour to collaborate with our local communities to implement these sustainable environmental projects. The work of the GEF-SGP, with the important assistance from Government partners, will continue to ensure the positive impact of civil society interventions at national level, and a continued effort to build the capacity of civil society actors to be transformative agents of change, contributing to Samoa’s efforts to achieve its national plans and the Sustainable Development Goals,” said Lemalu Nynette Sass, Chairwoman of the GEF-SGP National Steering Committee.

Inception workshop in Savaii for the new grantees under the UNDP GEF-Small Grants Programme.

These community projects are funded by the Community Development and Knowledge Management for the Satoyama Initiative Programme (COMDEKS), and OP7 core grant allocation, the 7th Operational Phase of the GEF-SGP, a programme implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), that provides financial assistance to small-scale environmental projects.

COMDEKS, funded by the Japan Biodiversity Fund at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, provides small-scale finance delivered through the GEF-SGP directly to local communities, Indigenous Peoples, and civil society to implement locally led projects that enhance livelihoods and well-being, conserve biodiversity, address climate change, and support local cultures and traditional practices. This is the first time that Samoa has been selected to be one of the implementing countries for COMDEKS.

The GEF-SGP National Coordinator, Mr. Lilomaiava Taumalaulu Filifilia Iosefa, emphasized the importance of working together with key implementing ministries, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, to assist the selected grantees and their communities to successfully implement the approved projects.