In 2019, The North Face (TNF) expanded its Explore Fund to Europe, selecting projects designed to protect and restore wild spaces for funding during 2019 and 2020. EOCA was delighted to be chosen as the company’s European partner to identify, assess and manage its grant funding. TNF in-house staff selected the following three projects for funding:
Restoring Hardknott Forest, UK : This project is restoring native woodland in some of England’s most dramatic mountain landscapes. It is delivering this over a large area by engaging volunteers from local communities, schools and beyond, to remove non-native conifers and enable around 250,000 native trees to regenerate.
Less Plastic, More Life: Fighting Single-Use Plastic to Protect Loggerhead Turtles, Italy: Italy is the largest consumer of plastic water bottles in Europe and every year, many thousands of sea turtles die due to plastic and waste ingestion in the Mediterranean sea. Istituto Oikos is working to protect sea turtles from plastic pollution by carrying out beach cleans, and a comprehensive programme to educate and raise awareness of the importance of reducing plastic waste and littering with local citizens, schools and fishermen.
Alpine Biodiversity Voluntary Camps in Berchtesgaden, Germany : Nationale Naturlandschaften is restoring important alpine habitats in the foothills of the Alps, through volunteer camps. These camps will be organized with local partners and open to German speaking volunteers. It will involve the volunteers carrying out a range of conservation actions, and taking part in educational activities such as guided wildlife tours.

2013 EPIC – Exploring (& Education About) Peaks, Inspiring Conservation
Funding from The North Face Explore Fund via EOCA will enable Respect the Mountains to develop and implement an EPIC day for 50 young people in Le Grand Massif area of France. During the day, the young people will be educated in respecting mountains, engaged in hands-on conservation work, inspired by Ambassadors and athletes from both organisations, and will have the opportunity to try a winter mountain activity

Ortovox are funding a Trails App as part of “Saving Tasmania’s Tarkine Wilderness”. This project has an overall goal of safeguarding over 495,000 hectares of wilderness through ecotourism.

Over the past few years, Original Buff, S.A. has been a very keen supporter of conservation projects through EOCA.  To date, the company has entirely funded 8 projects:

2018- ECO Relief Lesvos
This funding will be used by Lighthouse Relief to add to its humanitarian work with the refugees on the island, by cleaning up the environment. It will run 100 beach cleans to clear around 37km of shoreline on the north shore of Lesvos; mark, clear and repair about 100km of hiking and biking trails to access remote beaches for the clean up which will also benefit the outdoor enthusiasts that come to the island; and then take the collected waste to projects on the island to use it to raise awareness of and funds for the refugees

2016 - Heart of Scotland Forestry Project
With this funding, the John Muir Trust plans to restore native broadleaves and scots pine across the lower sections of Schiehallion, one of Scotlands most iconic hills.  They will also restore willow scrub on the glen floor and link the forest with woodland on neighbouring properties in a new partnership in the geographical 'Heart of Scotland'.

2013:  Mountain Forests Catalonia (nominated by Petzl Foundation)
This forest management project enabled the outdoor user to get involved in conservation during 9 individual weeks of voluntary work, involving forest path restoration, forest thinning, habitat restoration, and bio-engineering work to mitigate erosion. This work, amongst other things, enhanced the habitat for the Capercaille and improved access to outdoor users by restoring and maintaining forest tracks.

2012 Mountain Forests Catalonia (nominated by Patagonia)
Mountain forests of the Pyrenees are one of the largest protected areas in Europe, including threatened species, habitats and endemic plants. This are is very important for hikers, skiers and climbers.  The project ran 8 volunteering weeks involving path and habitat restoration, forest thinning, wildlife surveys and bio-engineering against erosion.

2012 Into the Meadows, UK (nominated by Snugpak)
This project restored 88 hectares of degraded meadows in the Yorkshire Dales, one of the last UK strongholds for traditionally managed, upland hay meadows, seen as one of the scarcest and most threatened habitats in the EU.

2011 Sustainable Tourism in Iceland (nominated by Deuter)
Hot springs, glaciers, vast volcanic landscapes, and a variety of natural phenomena and rarities in Iceland are major attractions for hikers. This project promotes sustainable tourism by setting up code of conduct for tourists visiting geothermal areas, and working with tourist bodies to provide educational material to domestic and foreign visitors.

2011 Conservation and Restoration in Snowdonia, Wales (nominated by Mountain Equipment)
Working to ensure that the Snowdonia National Park remains in great condition as a home for native flora and fauna, and as a top outdoor visitor destination, this project provided opportunities for people to participate in practical conservation work, controling and eradicating non native invasive plant species, and maintaining and repairing the most heavily used footpaths

2011 Wild Ennerdale – Woodland and Red Squirrel Conservation, UK (nominated by Berghaus)
The ancient oak and birch woodlands of the Ennerdale valley in the Lake District, Cumbria, are rich in species including ferns, mosses and the threatened native red squirrel. This project protected and expanded these woodlands, protected the native red squirrels from the invasive grey squirrels, and provided opportunities for people to share these special woodlands.

Further details on all of these projects can be found in the funded projects pages here

Pacsafe, whose logo incorporates a turtle, has committed $20,000 to a project that will address the threats to the Leatherback, Green and Hawksbill turtles on the remote Pacuare beach in Costa Rica.  The funding from Pacsafe will enable the project to address habitat loss, pollution, unsustainable fishing practices and exploitation for food, using measures including habitat restoration, beach patrols, an egg hatchery and education.

Following this successful project in 2015 and the launch of Pacsafe's Turtle Fund, the company chose to fund another turtle protection project in 2016, in French Polynesia. The project will stengthen the effectiveness of an ongoing turtle research, education and nest site monitoring, as well as protection from poachers and the sustainaibility of its clinic, which nurses sick and injured animals back to health and releases them back into the wild.