The award ceremony of the Ninth Ford Conservation And Environmental Grants China Program was held recently in Beijing' Great Hall of the People.

Altogether 21 non-governmental environmental organizations and individuals have won four awards and have been granted a total of CNY1.5 million as project funds at the ceremony.

Originating from the Henry Ford European Conservation Awards set up in 1983, the Ford Conservation And Environmental Grant is one of the largest environmental awards on this planet. In 2000 it came to China, aiming to encourage and commend environmental programs initiated by China's non-governmental environmental organizations and individuals, and offer follow-up funds for those awarded programs.

This year's Ford Conservation And Environmental Grants had the theme "resource conservation and emission reduction". Regional promotion activities have been conducted in Hangzhou, Taiyuan and Chongqing; and 120 environmental organizations were trained on capacity building.