In this publication of Forest Science News, there's an article by The Nature Conservacy (TNC) on their field trip to KSK/YTS areas as a scoping study into biodiversity. We shared costs and personnel on this and hope it leads to more intensive collaboration with them. TNC is one of the world's largest and richest conservation agencies.

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US STATE DEPARTMENT MAKES $60,000 MATCHING FUND CHALLENGE TO CLEAR PATH INTERNATIONAL (August, 2006)
The U.S. State Department has announced it will match up to $60,000 in contributions made by any grassroots and private-sector donors to Clear Path International’s landmine accident survivor assistance work in central Vietnam.
The matching period will last at least through the rest of 2006. This makes any earmarked contributions to Clear Path sent by mail or on the organization’s website at www.cpi.org will be eligible for the match from the State Department.
The dollar-for-dollar matching challenge was one of two grants for Clear Path International announced by the State Department’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement. The government agency said it would also contribute $75,000 towards Clear Path’s initiative to construct a rice production facility in Cambodia where hundreds of landmine victims will learn farm-based skills in the coming years.
The $75,000 grant for the Cambodia rice mill project does not require a match from private-sector contributors. The rice mill has already received major private-sector funding from the McKnight Foundation in Minneapolis and the United Nations Association USA’s Adopt-A-Minefield program. Clear Path has now raised $280,000 of the $325,000 needed for the mills completion.

For more details on the work of IBU4Aceh, download their June 6 report

The YUM Children’s Village orphanage in Cipanas, West Java has been selected from amongst 102 orphanages to be the Cianjur Regency nominee in a West Java award competition. The Children’s Village has distinguished itself with its current sustainability measures consisting of a small store, a telephone service, and its own garden which supplies fresh vegetables for the Village. The orphanage management and administration impressed the local social officers from the Indonesian Department of Social Services, who determined that all government permits and licenses had been complied with in an excellent manner.
The award is only given out once every five years and is called “The Best Orphanage Management Award”.  This award is granted only to orphanages with an outstanding reputation for quality care for orphans and children in need, and excellent management of the facilities and programs, including sustainability efforts. The award, if granted to the Children’s Village, will mean an increased profile as a shining example of orphanage management.  
Congratulations to Ari Prabowo, Manager of the Children’s Village, and all Staff for their achievements in making the orphanage an excellent example of social work.

ANISHA CROP NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT (June, 2006)
From Valli Krishnamurthy, Project Founder and Leader

Meetings with farmers on Crop Nutrient Management were held in Marthalli and Oddaradoddi villages, India, last April to demonstrate how to prepare “panchagavya”. About 25 farmers participated.
Panchagavya is a liquid which consists of products from the cow including dung, urine, milk curd and ghee. It has multiple functions and was introduced to replace chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The uniqueness of panchagavya is that it provides growth-promoting hormones and immunity boosters for plants. This can be used for seed/sapling treatments and also to control the spread of seed borne diseases. Using panchagavya also helps to increase the yield and quality of the products. Panchagayva is applied thrice for any crop and the application period is very important.