Press release 04 April 2014
The Citi Foundation and WWF Russia announce the expansion of their joint project
Entrepreneurs of Altai and Kamchatka to Receive 5 Million Rubles in Support for Business Development
Barnaul – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky – Starting in April 2014 and throughout the coming year approximately 5 million rubles will be provided to support beginning entrepreneurs of the Altai and Kamchatka regions. Small businesses in these regions help conserve nature and prevent poaching.
The project is intended to help ensure the financial stability of local residents, to assist them in promoting their products on the regional and national market, and to establish reliable distribution channels.
The Citi Foundation has cooperated with WWF Russia in this project since 2011. The number of participants in the project in Altai and Kamchatka in previous years has reached into the thousands. They include those who received direct financing to develop their businesses, participants of numerous training seminars as well as those who benefited from the new opportunities that come with the new jobs created through the project. The best cases can be found at www.wwf.ru.
The project is aimed at preventing poaching, which is the only source of subsistence for many families. The main objective of the project is to change this situation and make it possible for local residents to earn a living in a legal manner.
“In the Altai region in certain villages the level of unemployment reaches 90%,” says Alexander Bondarev, Head of the Altai-Sayan division of WWF Russia. “The low standard of living fosters poaching activities and illegal trade of wild plants and animals. We are confident that this project will make it possible to partially solve the problem of employment of the population, supplement family budgets, improve tourism facilities, and create of the proper conditions for catering to visitors. But most importantly it will provide local residents stable and legal sources of income in places which are home to the wild argali mountain sheep of Altai and the snow leopard.”
“In Kamchatka the project will have its own special features,” says Sergei Rafanov, Director of the Kamchatka/Bering ecoregion division for WWF Russia. “In contrast to the Altai-Sayan region, where entrepreneurs receive interest-free microloans, on the Kamchatka peninsula we will continue to offer assistance in the form of microgrants which do not need to be returned. The project also foresees providing assistance in Kamchatka to entrepreneurs who are engaged in the creation and development of production, deep processing and sale of forest nutritional products based on sustainable and ecologically sound forestry practices.”
More information and case studies are available here: http://wwf.ru/about/where_we_work/altay/citi http://wwf.ru/about/where_we_work/kamchatka/Citi
WWF, the global conservation organization, is one of the largest non-governmental nature conservation organizations in the world. It was established in 1961 thanks to the enthusiasm of a small group of people concerned about nature. Over the course of its work, WWF has grown into a large influential conservation organization, and today the panda, our famous logo, is recognized by millions of people in the most remote corners of our planet. WWF implements close to 2,000 projects annually in more than 100 countries around the world. Our main goal is saving nature while working with people. This is why representatives of indigenous peoples, business, other NGOs, government bodies, and, of course, our nearly 5 million members are among WWF's many partners. Without them, our successes would not be possible.
The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress in communities around the world and focuses on initiatives that expand financial inclusion. We collaborate with best-in-class partners to create measurable economic improvements that strengthen low-income families and communities. Through a
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