Honiara, Solomon Islands — Five community organisations from across Solomon Islands have received support through the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEF SGP), implemented by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), to advance locally led environmental initiatives.

Grant agreements signed in Honiara in July 2026 will enable communities to pursue projects that respond directly to local priorities while strengthening environmental stewardship and livelihoods.

The low-value grants (LVGs), totalling more than USD100,000 across the five recipients, will help bridge critical funding gaps by supporting a range of community-led conservation initiatives, including protected area planning, coral reef rehabilitation and sustainable agriculture.

“These grants should be seen as an investment in communities, people and the environment,” said Solomon Kalu, Programme Specialist at UNDP in Solomon Islands. “UNDP’s role is not only to facilitate this support, but also to work alongside communities so these investments deliver lasting environmental and social benefits.”

For three of the five grantees, the funding represents an important step towards securing formal protection for forests that communities have long managed and depended on.

Under Solomon Islands’ Protected Areas Act 2010, communities seeking formal protected area status must complete a series of technical and planning requirements, including baseline studies and management planning. These processes are often beyond the financial reach of rural communities despite strong local commitment to conservation, yet the goal extends beyond protecting forests.

Formal protected area status strengthens the role of customary landowners and communities in managing natural resources, helping to ensure conservation decisions remain in local hands while creating stronger safeguards against unsustainable activities.

One of those communities is the Kogala Tribe Forest Conservation Association (KTFCA) in East Guadalcanal.

“This application is not simply an environment project but an opportunity for our community to take greater responsibility for protecting resources for future generations,” said Justin Ron, Coordinator of KTFCA.

Through the LVG, KTFCA also plans to build a facility that will serve as an operational hub for coordinating conservation initiatives, accommodating visiting researchers and partners, and supporting sustainable local livelihoods.

Another project, led by the Tookina Tribal Land Conservation Association in East Are’are, Malaita Province, will establish a training centre where women and youth can develop sustainable farming skills and improve local livelihoods through environmentally responsible agricultural practices.

The diversity of the projects reflects the programme’s community-driven approach, with successful applicants identifying priorities based on local needs. Several grantees said they first learned about the funding opportunity through the programme’s outreach on social media, local networks and civil society organisations, highlighting the importance of making environmental financing accessible to communities across the country.

“This support gives our community the opportunity to move from planning to action,” said Shoghi Waikiru, Secretary of the Wa’aoho Community Conservation Association. “It allows us to complete the work needed to protect our forest while ensuring future generations continue to benefit from the resources we depend on.”

The GEF SGP supports community-led initiatives that address global environmental challenges by providing grants to civil society and community-based organisations through a decentralised country-level delivery mechanism, with a focus on women, Indigenous Peoples, youth and persons with disabilities.

For more information please contact:

Teiba Mamu | SGP National Coordinator, UNDP in Solomon Islands | teiba.mamu@undp.org