Seven community-based organisations across the East Asian Seas have been awarded a total of USD 350,000 through the SEA Grants program to protect and conserve marine and coastal ecosystems in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand.
USD 350,000 grant awarded to boost marine and coastal conservation efforts in Seas of East Asia
Bangkok, 7 November 2025 – Seven community-based organisations across the East Asian Seas have been awarded a total of USD 350,000 through the SEA Grants program to protect and conserve marine and coastal ecosystems in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand.
Coastal communities in this region, a global centre of shallow-water tropical marine biodiversity, are facing increasing threats from environmental degradation, pollution and climate change. SEA Grants seek to directly empower local action to combat these threats.
“SEA Grants will tackle a core problem in conservation: projects often end when the funding runs out,” said Anders Faaborg Poulsen, Senior Project Manager, Implementing the Strategic Action Programme for the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand project (also known as the South China Sea project). “We are funding initiatives that will build income-generating systems and community ownership. SEA Grants ensures that conservation efforts can be continuous and sustainable.”
The awardees, forming the program’s inaugural cohort, will each get USD 50,000, along with crucial implementation support, for each of their community-based conservation projects - to be implemented over a duration of up to 18 months, focusing on blue economy solutions, habitat restoration, climate resilience, and marine governance.
Projects were selected from a strong pool of applicants through a rigorous evaluation criteria with importance placed on the ratio of the grant (a minimum of 25 per cent of the budget) dedicated to sustainability or income-generating systems.
“This funding is a lifeline for low-income fishing communities,” said Dararoth Ke, Project Lead at SAMAKY Organisation, one of the program beneficiaries. “The grant will help us create a community-based fund to reinvest profits into conservation, which is crucial to transforming fishers into active stewards for the endangered Irrawaddy and Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins, raising conservation awareness from the local level right up to the national stage."
Read the Press Release in full.
Know more about SEA Grants and the seven pilot awardees.
