Ford Middle East has announced that applications are open for the 2010 Ford Motor Company Conservation & Environmental Grants programme.

Selected projects from the GCC, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria will share a total of $100,000 in grants money.

The region's only private sector initiative of its kind, in its 11th consecutive year, the Ford Grants have granted nearly $1 million since 2000 to more than 110 grass-root level environmental initiatives, generating real impact among local communities in the GCC and Levant countries.

'We have been running the Ford Grants uninterrupted, for more than a decade, and we are proud to have supported significant environmental projects here in the region,' said Larry Prein, Ford Middle East's managing director.

Since the Grants inception in 2000, Ford has awarded more than $2,000,000 to over 300 high-quality projects throughout Asia Pacific, Caribbean, Central America, Middle East and Puerto Rico to further their environmental initiatives.

For this year, applications are accepted until September 15.

Grants will be made available to individuals, community and non-profit groups that have projects currently running in the areas of preservation of the natural environment, environmental education and conservation engineering.

The Ford Grants are open to applicants from Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria and the United Arab Emirates.-TradeArabia News Service