Grants News: Our Latest Projects
We’re delighted to announce our latest round of grants awarded to the following grassroots projects working hard to protect and restore nature in Devon…
Bug Recovery Network: A community project coordinating volunteers in the Bradly area of Newton Abbot to carry out bio-restoration projects to increase insect populations. The project will establish pollinator monitoring stations, train volunteer data recorders, analyse pollinator data and share with key stakeholders, identify actions to enhance pollinator habitat, and document the whole process to share learnings with other community groups locally, regionally, and nationally.
Torbay Seabed Regeneration: A project to reduce the negative impacts of the fishing industry in Torbay by removing derelict fishing gear from the seabed. This project aims to: encourage greater interest in the underwater world generating eco-tourism opportunities; promote collaboration between environmental groups and fishing groups to minimise future gear loss; provide University research opportunities for new techniques, materials, and technology to prevent future loss of equipment; and kickstart a local “report and recover” scheme in the bay to retrieve lost gear as quickly as possible.
South Hams Marine Life Rescue: A project to fund a trailer of movable safety and rescue kit for the South Hams team of volunteer medics to deal with the increased number of marine mammal strandings and entanglements in the region. The funds will enable them to get the new kit to the location quickly, optimising the chances of good outcomes for marine wildlife, and fund essential on-going medical and safety training for volunteers.
Yealm Estuary to Moor: A pilot project which aims to link fragmented habitats along the 12 miles of the River Yealm to create a continuous riparian wildlife corridor. DEF’s support will fund West Country Rivers Trust CSI Water Monitoring tests for volunteers, and training for three leaders to coordinate the volunteer groups in water and terrestrial monitoring.
Till the Coast is Clear: Thanks to a generous donation from a supporter we were able to channel additional funding to enable this vital project to continue engaging volunteers and cleaning up plastic pollution from hard to reach places on the South Devon coastline.
THANK YOU
We’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported DEF – whether financially, or by sharing your time and expertise to help us to identify the projects that will bring about the greatest gains for nature in our beautiful county.
We truly couldn’t do our work without your support!
DEF’S IMPACT TO DATE
We are thrilled to report that since our launch nearly two years ago, DEF has supported a total of 26 grassroots projects to address the climate and nature emergencies in Devon, awarding more than £325,000 of grants.
If you’re keen to give back to nature via DEF, you can make a donation here or get in touch to support us in other ways.
Our priority is to increase the amount of funding available for grassroots environmental initiatives in Devon. Therefore, we are actively looking for individual donors or business partners interested in supporting us so we can enable even more good things to happen for nature in Devon.
If you are an individual or business looking to support the most impactful projects delivering vital Nature-based Solutions here in Devon, please do get in touch.
Thank you for your invaluable support.