Grants News: Our Latest Projects

We’re excited to share the latest round of SEVEN grants we’ve recently awarded to brilliant grassroots projects working hard to protect and restore nature across Devon – on land and in our rivers and sea…

 

Q1 2023 GRANTS

Crayfish Hatchery – Aiming to restore white-clawed crayfish numbers and eliminate the threat of extinction, the hatchery project will support up to 500 crayfish for release each year to improve water quality, species diversity, and ecosystem health in the Creedy catchment.

Discovering the Cove – Connecting a Brixham primary school and its community with nearby wild spaces, while raising awareness of the importance of local coastal habitats and wildlife species – via presentations, field trips, underwater footage, and a new conservation garden on the school premises.

Harvest Mouse – Helping one of Devon’s ‘near threatened species’, the harvest mouse is a vital food source for a wide range of species. This project aims to trial innovative survey methods and raise awareness of habitat enhancements that will enable harvest mice to thrive.

Kingsbridge Climate Action – Enabling this grassroots group to ignite community engagement and amplify action for climate and nature in the town. The project aims to reduce carbon footprints, promote the circular economy, and increase local biodiversity and nature connection.

CSI Community Analysts – Empowering Westcountry Rivers Trust volunteers to analyse river pollution score cards, and use story-telling to communicate findings with a wider audience to increase awareness, and hold polluters to account, ultimately reducing pollution and enhancing water quality.

Save Our Seagrass – Striving to protect and regenerate seagrass in Torbay via ecological monitoring and community engagement – increasing our understanding of the importance and current health of local seagrass meadows and raising awareness of what can be done to enhance this vital habitat.

Wild About Devon – Building on this project’s brilliant impact in 2022, we have doubled the small grants funding pot for 2023, to provide £10,000 to be shared among local community groups, enabling them to implement activities to help Devon’s wildlife on their patch.

DEF’S IMPACT TO DATE

Since our launch in 2020, we’ve supported 48 grassroots projects addressing the climate and nature emergencies in Devon, awarding more than £630,000 of grants.

Read more in our latest impact report here.

 

Q2 GRANTS

We’re currently fundraising so we can support more innovative and impactful grassroots projects at the end of June 2023.

If you’re keen to make a difference and help us kickstart or scale up more nature-based solutions, you can make a donation here, or get in touch here to support us in other ways.

Thank you very much, as ever, for your invaluable support!

 

Images courtesy of Dr Jen Nightingale (South West Crayfish Partnership), the Wild Planet Trust, and the Devon Mammal Group.