The Ministry of the Environment presented $45,000 yesterday to seven successful applicants of its Environmental Grant Scheme.

The winners include a marine science internship, a dairy farmer who wanted to clean up his farm for children to visit, a home vegetable garden project and a garden security strategy.

Joy Nash, of Somerset Bridge, was awarded $2,500 for her home vegetable garden and Cheryl Adcock was awarded $2,500 for restoring the habitat of her Cedarcraft Lane garden by replacing invasive plant species with endemics.

Anthony Anderson, of Vista Landscape Management Services, was awarded $10,000 for his Bermuda Garden Security Strategy.

?We have designed a landscape design programme which can assist in home security,? Mr. Anderson said at yesterday?s Press conference at the Botanical Garden?s Visitor Centre. ?Your home can still look beautiful without looking like Fort Knox.?

J.P. Skinner, of Waterstart Limited, was awarded $2,500 for Marine Science Internship which took local students scuba diving to explore Bermuda?s marine life.

?It was excellent for them to get their feet wet and learn about marine science,? Mr. Skinnner said. ?This is a great first step and will continue next year.?

Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield added Waterstart?s programme was being held in conjunction with the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.

Dairy farmer Richard Bascome was awarded $10,000 for his revitalisation of Westover Farm in Sandys.

And for a second time in 2005, farmer Thomas Wadson received a Government grant. He was awarded $10,000 for a pasture renovation which included organic planting methods.

Also for the second time in a row, Afflare Films was awarded a grant for ?Rara Avis? a film about cahow conservation, this time winning $7,500.

?The Ministry allocates $100,000 a year to this programme,? Mrs. Butterfield said yesterday. ?A total of 22 applications were received for this round of awards, a fair showing but still not as high in previous years.?

As a result she encouraged individuals, community groups and non-Governmental organisations to put on their thinking caps and submit a project for consideration in the near future. This was the second round of awards for 2005, she said.

Application forms could be picked up throughout the year at Ministry headquarters.

However, there was no repeat grant for Dolphin Quest?s 2005 dolphin tracking programme which enabled students to see how dolphins swim around the Island.

?The Environmental Grant Scheme was launched at the start of the 2003/2004 financial year,? Mrs. Butterfield said. ?This initiative reflected our recognition that legislation, regulations and policy alone could not be relied on to protect Bermuda?s environmental quality. We saw the need to support those whose awareness had been raised to the level of action and to promote initiatives to educate and raise levels of environmental awareness throughout the community.?