“This project received $30,000 for its efforts to create awareness about the current wildlife situation in the Kingdom by offering information about mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians,” said Hussein Murad, Ford Middle East’s director of sales.
The professor, Abdulhadi Ahamad Aloufi, was selected “by an independent panel of judges comprising environmental experts as well as academics from the participating countries,” said Murad.
Ahamad Aloufi’s website is currently being translated into English and is being expanded to include sections on fish and insects together with an extensive wildlife photo library.
Five other environmental projects shared $100,000 in grants from Ford Motor Company this year, after they were declared winners of the Ford’s Conservation and Environmental Grants on Wednesday.
Murad said Biosphere Expeditions of Oman bagged the award for protecting the Arabian leopard, while Lebanon’s Action for Environment received the grant for reforestation. Greywater treatment and re-use in irrigation and desertification control, submitted by Lebanese Appropriate Technology Association, was also declared a winner.
Syria’s Volunteers for the Environment Society was another winner, while Mohammad Jony of Syria was given grant for another project.
Murad said since its inception in the region in 2000, the Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants has awarded a total of $1 million to nearly 110 projects in the six Gulf states and Levant countries.
In Saudi Arabia, 16 projects have been supported by the Ford Grants with more than $175,000 disbursed to date.
Murad gave an overview of Ford’s business in the Middle East with special reference to the Kingdom.
He said Ford’s successful transformation plan is in full gear in the Middle East “with an outstanding 43 percent growth over the same period across the GCC last year.”
In Saudi Arabia, Ford, Lincoln and Mercury sales saw a 74 percent hike over last year. Growth registered across passenger cars and utility vehicles, with each segment recording 54 percent and 104 percent respectively.
