Project Dates: 01.06.24 to 01.06.25

The second year of a project generously enabled by Depeche Mode and Hublot’s Memento Mori Tour charity partnership with the Conservation Collective to tackle plastic pollution.

DEF’s portion of the funding received is being used to support one of our flagship grantees, Till the Coast is Clear, to scale up their vital work recovering plastic pollution from hard-to-reach locations on the South Devon coast.

Since the first round of funding, 20,000+ kgs of marine plastic has been reclaimed from Devon’s coastlines, with an estimated 70% stemming from commercial fishing and shipping gear. They also purchased additional kayaks made from recycled marine plastic to take bigger groups of volunters on clean-up missions, set up new remote waste collection points, hired a new team member, and equipped several local schools with beach cleaning kits.

This second tranche of funding will be used to:

• add more remote coastal plastic waste collection points for pollution cleaned up by the general public
• distribute coast clean up equipment to more local groups
• develop the Circular Adventures initiative
• recruit new volunteers across all TTCIC’s environmental initiatives
• and progress with the conversion of the vintage wooden motor cruiser, Dolphin, into a community-owned electric vessel to provide nature immersion experiences on the Kingsbridge Salcombe estuary nature reserve.

Read about year one of the funding HERE.

IMPACT SUMMARY

See mini impact update from year one HERE.

March 2025:

• The project has recovered approximately 730kgs of plastic pollution between January and March 2025 from Devon’s coast. The removal of this plastic pollution reduces the risk of it harming marine life through ingestion, contributing to ghost fishing (marine life being tangled and killed by plastic pollution), or breaking down into micro plastic.
• In partnership with the National Trust, the project has developed new signage which will support public clean up efforts by providing information and educational material on the threats of plastic pollution. The project will also increase the amount of plastic pollution collected, and therefore reducing the amount of harmful plastics in the marine environment, through providing a further 15-20 plastic recovery locations.
• The Force4Nature team is in constant demand. By providing their services to assist with local projects, the team delivers nature based solutions and enhances local land for biodiversity.
• The project has invested in a 4×4 vehicle to increase its ability to reach difficult to access coastal sites in poor weather and support other community and nature regeneration projects including towing the Whale Structure (Whaley) to a wider range of locations.
• Whaley has been on display at Bantham car park over the festive period, getting great reactions from the public and raising awareness of plastic pollution.