DAR ES SALAAM, Sept. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Ten million more US dollars have been granted to finance the conservation project of Mount Kilimanjaro and its surrounding ecosystem, according to reports reaching here on Saturday.

    The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) launched this week the second phase of the Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation Project in Moshi of northern Tanzania.

    The conservation project, known as COMPACT, runs from 2005 to 2009 and gets the 10-million-dollar grant from the United Nations Foundation and Global Environment Facility.

    The first phase of the conservation project was a response to an aerial survey conducted in 2002 by the UNDP in collaboration with the United Nations Foundation, Global Environment Facility and United Nations Environment Program.

    The aerial survey found that Mount Kilimanjaro had lost approximately 55 percent of its glaciers in a period of 38 years between 1962 and 2000.

    Mount Kilimanjaro is best known for its snow-caps despite the fact that the mountain is situated right along the Equator.

    The mountain is one of the six World Heritage Sites which are protected and conserved under the COMPACT projects.

    The other World Heritage Sites are Mount Kenya in Kenya, Sian Kaan Reserve and Belize Barrier Reef in Belize of Latin America, Morne Trois Pitons in the Dominican Republic, and the Puerto Princesa River in the Philippines.

    Nehemiah Murusuri, COMPACT national coordinator, explained thatonly six out of the current more than 400 World Heritage Sites in the world get protection and conservation from COMPACT due to financial constrains despite the fact that United Nations Foundation and Global Environment Facility have since 2001 been actively involved in COMPACT projects. Enditem