This planning grant was used to pay a consultant (NV Prakwaki, Iwan R. Wijngaarde) to conduct a study on prevention of land erosion in communities living along the river shores by introducing vegetation.

The study provided a good basis for a project proposal, with the following recommendations:
1. Prevention of erosion within the community by planting gras around the houses. Maroon people take away all the vegetation (grasses, etc) around their houses, with just the bare soil left, that washes away after every rainfall.
2. Prevention of erosion along the river shore, which is also a very actual problem, by planting a specific gras (vetiver or also called motgras)
3. Prevention of erosion on the crop lands, by introducing specific techniques, such as growing the crops in lines adjacent to the slope of the hills, etc.

However, the organization applying for this planning grant, Stichting Bureau voor de Dienstverlening aan NGOs was unable to write the project proposal to implement these recommendations. This was very unfortunate, and to date, the organization has not been able to follow up on this.

However, we are hopeful that in the future another organization can apply for a project regarding the erosion problems within communities, as this is a challenge in the villages.