Trinidad-based Caribbean Natural Resource Institue wins prestigious MacArthur grant

Almost any artist or nonprofit in almost any part of the world can understand the value and prestige of winning any kind of grant from the U.S.-based MacArthur Foundation. Caribbean residents and institutions are no exception.

One of the funding programmes run by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur foundation is their Awards for Creative and Effective Institutions, where organisations can receive up to $650,000 each to "advance innovative work".

Among the eight 2009 awardees – whose diverse missions range from defending equality in the Nigerian legal system to transforming low-income Chicago neighborhoods – is the Trinidad-based Caribbean Natural Resource Institute.

Founded over 30 years ago and based in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the Caribbean Natural Resource Institute promotes biodiversity conservation. Through alliances with the region’s nations and organisations, it has worked to harmonise the needs of the region's people with the health of their coastal environments. Their initiatives have included the protection of watersheds; promoting a role for civil society in managing threatened natural resources; developing training programmes; and fostering community-based tourism, sustainable fisheries and forestry. One of it major thrusts right now is working with governments and NGOs to help mitigate the global crimate and financial crises and their potentially devastating impact on the Caribbean region through the implementation of sustainable development.

Other awardees for this year include Access to Justice (Lagos, Nigeria); the Center for Neighborhood Technology (Chicago, Illinois); the Centre for Independent Social Research (St. Petersburg, Russia); the Chicago Community Loan Fund (Chicago, Illinois); the Mahila SEWA Trust (Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India); the National Housing Conference and Center for Housing Policy (Washington, DC); and the Women of the Don (Novocherkassk, Russia).

"These organisations may be small but their impact is tremendous," said MacArthur President Jonathan Fanton. "From protecting human rights to improving urban neighborhoods to conserving biodiversity, they are blazing new paths and finding fresh solutions to some of our most difficult challenges. The MacArthur Foundation has a long history of supporting organisations around the world like these that demonstrate the creativity, drive, and vision to make the world more just and peaceful."

Awardees will be honoured on June 11 at a ceremony at the MacArthur headquarters in Chicago. Congratulations to the Institute, and please do keep up the good work!