17 new small grant projects supported by BEST 2.0

February 2018

The 5th BEST 2.0 call for proposals, launched in March 2017, targeted small grant projects in all 5 regions. In keeping with previous calls a high number of applications were received, including several from “new” organisations that hadn’t previously submitted a project proposal, demonstrating the increasing profile of the BEST initiative.

The funding requested by the 41 eligible full proposals was more than double the available budget. Small grants primarily target organisations located in the OCTs; more than 75% of the applications received were from local non-governmental/civil society organisations, small and medium enterprises and municipal/local government bodies.

17 projects were selected for funding by the European Commission. The total of the grants awarded is more than € 1.25 million.

This brings the total number of projects funded by BEST 2.0 to 61 and the total amount invested to more than € 7.9 million. To date 24 of the 25 OCTs have benefited from funding.

The objectives of the 17 projects funded in 2017 include: controlling invasive species and restoring coastal habitats in the Caribbean; developing organic farming substrates to promote sustainable agriculture and expanding the network of marine educative areas in the Pacific; establishing eco-acoustic monitoring of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean; managing pelagic ecosystems in the context of climate change around the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the Antarctic; and establishing a nursery for endemic plants in Saint Helena in the South Atlantic.

The 61 BEST 2.0 projects funded to date are classified according to five main themes below.

Further information on the individual projects funded in 2017 will be made available on the BEST 2.0 Portal shortly.

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