MacArthur Foundation awards grant to AIT
The Asian Institute of Technology was among 16 recipients of grants totaling US$4.5 million (173 million baht) from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Announced 12 June 2006, the grants promote efforts to protect the biodiversity of the Lower Mekong region.
AIT will receive US$325,000 (12.5 million baht) over three years for research on how to protect the forests of Vietnam’s Thua Thien-Hue province and how to better support local communities who depend on forest resources for their livelihood. This will involve establishing a long-term biodiversity monitoring system, experimenting with the domestication of several important marketable forest plant species, and training members from the local community to help conserve and manage forest resources. Funds will also be used to provide graduate-level training to provincial forestry officials and instructors at the university who train district forestry officials in central Vietnam.
Dr. Edward L Webb, an associate professor of Natural Resources Management in the School of Environment, Resources and Development is the project coordinator and principal investigator. The project was designed with colleagues from Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry in 2002. It received a MacArthur grant for 2003-2006 for research on the historical land use changes, people-forest relationship in Nam Dong district in Hue province, and their relationships to national policy developments since 1975.
From 2006 to 2009 AIT partnered with Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry and the Forest Protection Department in Thua Thien-Hue province to take a more biological approach to conservation research: establishing long-term biological monitoring plots for key plants (about 15 important livelihood species) and transects for animals (mainly frogs, but possibly butterflies, both of which are habitat quality indicators), undertaking domestication experiments with important forest plant species, and initiating educational extension work through establishment of nature clubs and adult forest discussion workshops in rural villages.
During the first phase, two master’s students have graduated and two continue field work, and two doctoral students are working on dissertations in the study area. During the next phase, three master’s and one doctoral student will be involved.
The Chicago, U.S.A., based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private, independent grant making institution dedicated to helping groups and individuals foster lasting improvement in the human condition. With assets of $5.4 billion the foundation makes grants of approximately $200 million each year.