Environment

Beirut Coastal Cleanup Initiative
My name is GP SKAFF. I work in fabrics and my passion lies in the outdoors. I am involved in many environmental campaigns, with my most recent being the ‘Beirut Coastal Clean up’/ June 2021: The Beirut Coastal Cleanup is a grassroots movement. It started in 2021 with organized weekly meetups to pick up trash around the city. Every Saturday, a group of 20 to 30 people gather to clean up and send the trash to recycling companies. The areas covered are ramlet el bayda, rawche, manara corniche, zaytouna/biel waterfront sea side corniche, ashrafieh, tabaris, hamra, mar mikhael and more. We achieved over 100 Clean ups with 3000+ Saturday daily paid workers throughout Beirut, removed more than 400,000 Liters of trash and 5000 trash bags of glass bottles, plastic bottles/bags, paper and carton, In 2023, the plan is, with the help of more funding, to expand and cover more areas. We also want to clean the underwater seabed. With the help of our sponsors and their generous donations, a total of 9800 $ in 2021 were spent on manpower, bags, equipment and transportation. In addition to a cleaner coast and beaches, the most significant impact that we have seen is that people are littering less. They now feel a sense of responsibility when seeing fellow citizens doing the work. Help us reach our goal by investing in our environmental movement. The results are real! so you can rest assured your donation is creating a tangible impact on our planet for years to come! In 2023 our plans are: Project1: Beirut coast and city clean up Unfortunately, as per Ramco’s contract, they are not required to remove garbage from any area that is not a road and a side walk. This leaves dramatic results of uncleaned spaces such as those surrounding private properties, as well as parks, governmental and municipality land and spaces, mountains, etc. Since June 2021 a team of 20 to 30 people have been paid every Saturday wages to clean those areas. Our target is to increase the teams to 50 people (5 teams of 10), and to increase their wages to 20$ a day. Cost per day for 1 team of 10: 200$ + miscellaneous Cost per day for 5 teams of 10: 1000$ + miscellaneous Cost of 52 Saturdays with 1 team: 10,400$ + miscellaneous Cost of 52 Saturdays with 5 teams: 52000$ + miscellaneous Miscellaneous cost per Saturday : transportation 100$, equipment 50$, management ( hr & operation) Please see attached cost sheet Project 2: Beirut Underwater seabed cleanup More and more garbage and plastic end up in our sea and destroying marine fauna and marine life. Our project here is to pay 2 divers (Fouad and Zahi from Manara port, professional divers and fishermen), to clean up the seabed from Rawche to Aub and eventually expand further. And especially the Rawche caves where some seal or more live there. Main Cost is 50$ per diver per day + miscellaneous Please see attached cost sheet of this project Project 3: Rangers to clean and monitor Unfortunately, with the absence of municipality responsibility we have seen many areas where people gather daily and leave their trash. We already have 2 full time rangers that are responsible and feel the sense of ownership of the manara beach and the Aub beach. They are paid monthly to clean these beaches daily. Our target is to increase these rangers to 6 to cover Ramlet el Bayda and Ashrafieh parks 9 tabaris and saint Nicolas). Main cost is 400$ salary per month per ranger + miscellaneous. Please see attached cost sheet Social entrepreneurship goals: To help some people get a little money To clean our land and sea To decrease littering of people To decrease the plastic waste that is or will end up in our sea and harm the marine life Recycle garbage that if not removed will end up in our sea The total cost of the whole forecasted project is over 100,000$, but with any fund we receive we will do the outmost out of it. So any donation will be much appreciated. I hope to receive a positive feedback from you. With best regards GP

$400 raised of $25,000

Environment

Light up the streets of Douma- ضووا شوارع دوما
Following the initiative of Inara Douma, in cooperation with the local community and Douma Municipality; Digne-Les-Bains- Douma Twinning Association is launching a fundraising campaign to light up the streets of Douma. The campaign focuses on providing special LED lamps to households, allowing residents to connect these lamps to their solar powered houses and illuminate the surrounding streets, or to provide solar-powered lamps in areas with limited access to electricity. Due to the extended power outage, the streets of Douma have been in the dark for a few years now, which makes it difficult for people and businesses to carry out their daily activities after sunset. As we all know, access to electricity is essential for the growth and development of any community. Additionally, with well lighten streets, we can reduce the risk of accidents and improve the security of the neighborhoods. Last but not least, the summer season is approaching, lightening the streets will also help in boosting the tourism and the economy, giving back to Douma the reputation that it always held, a pioneer in the community work and one of the most beautiful villages in Lebanon. Hand in hand, our beloved village Douma is coming back to light with clean, green, renewable energy. Thank you in advance for your contribution and for any more information about this campaign, please contact Zeina Sawaya ( [email protected]).

$918 raised of $5,000

Environment

Crowd For Justice - Supporting Green Advocacy
Summary Crowd For Justice - Supporting Green Advocacy in Lebanon HELP US TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT OUR GREEN LANDS WHY ARE WE TAKING ACTION? AND WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT? When faced with crises, developing countries often de-prioritize environmental issues and green solutions to issues in favour of providing lifesaving aid, recovery from shocks and improving the resilience of the local population. In Lebanon specifically, the long-lived crises since 1970 have taken their toll on the environment and on the ability of the locals to protect their culture and their natural environment. Hence, Lebanon’s multi-faceted and protracted crises present at this critical period a unique opportunity to demonstrate that solutions to societal, political, economic problems must be initiated with environmentally sound practices. With the deterioration of public services, and the absence of response mechanisms to address environmental issues, GreenAd has set up a response system that addresses issues at local, regional and national levels of governance in Lebanon. WHO WE ARE The Green Advocate (GreenAd) Unit for Lebanon is a grassroot initiative bringing together activists, local non-profits and private firms to present solutions addressing environmental problems nationally, which are scalable and tailored to the complex operating environment in Lebanon. HOW IT WORKS GreenAd relies on the calls put forth by active residents to act in response to rising issues with no clear solution, such as forest fires, illegal deforestation, water contamination and more. This grassroot initiative will pick up on claims made by the local community and respond to the most urgent needs of the local community and affected ecosystem. The second layer of the initiatives takes issues forth to include local advocacy, reporting claims to concerned ministries and working with local governments on mitigation plan. The third layer includes the revision, editing, amendment and suggestion of related laws to offer long-term protection and change. Once the process is completed successful and failing cases will be shared with the public at large to raise social and political advocacy. STAKEHOLDERS OF THE PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND CIVIC (PPC) COOPERATION Socio-Economic Institute for Development (SEID) SEID is a Lebanese NGO operating since 2017, with a mission to provide residents with a better quality of life. This is achieved through sustainable socio-economic development projects that focus on empowering individuals and groups. To achieve sustainable socio-economic change and empower local communities to overcome the barriers posed by the overlapping crises in Lebanon, SEID employs a three-pronged approach, leading to empathetic, tailored and vocal solutions. SEID’s grassroot operation includes outreach for research studies, identifying and fundraising to meet the needs of local communities, and leveraging private sector expertise for the improvement of public service provision. SEID works with renowned law firms, legal researchers, environmental academics and activists, and leverage its widespread outreach network for this initiative. WE HAVE TAKEN ACTION - JOIN US! To cover the cost to take it through to permission, we will need to raise $30,000 with a stretch target of $35,000 to fund the systematization of the alert raising and response process. We have been funding the initial legal and campaign costs through donations from concerned individuals, whilst the team and ecology experts have given their time, expertise, and dedication for free. We believe we are not alone, and that you will help support this truly worthy cause, and that when we are successful the legal decision will help set a precedent that will support other struggling campaigns to protect nature from inappropriate development. This can then be used by other groups to establish good environmental practice in the planning process. We have come so far and strongly believe we have a high chance of success, and we feel we have a responsibility to the many people affected, who care deeply about this proposed tragedy for nature, locally across Lebanon at a time when climate crisis reminds us that we all live in one shared home and every green space matters. WHAT THE FUND WILL BE USED FOR To replicate responses to environmental issues, utilizing the unique collaboration between grassroot activists, private and public sectors allow for a holistic response to environmental issues, to: • Take direct action to meet arising needs at short and medium turns, through grassroot organizations designing and implementing empathetic, innovative, and vocal interventions responding to environmental claims; • Produce legislative suggestions to put in place long-term solutions and accountability practices, and do the necessary legal research to assure direct action is legally covered and compliant with local and international laws; and • Engage with the public and media in response to needs and environmental crises, clear bottlenecks at local and national levels to assure sound implementation of direct actions and advocate for passing of law proposals at parliament. LET’S DO THIS TOGETHER! Please give generously, every donation helps - join us in standing up for nature, for Lebanon and future generations to come. THANK YOU!

$1,000 raised of $30,000