Wild for Nature: EOCA’s Landscape Legacy Project
There is an increasing urgency and awareness of the double threat that our world currently faces: climate change and the loss of biodiversity. These two issues are intrinsically linked, and both are of enormous importance to wildlife, nature, people and the future of the planet.
After the success of the Plastic Free: Mountain to Sea focus, EOCA was delighted to have launched its next 2 year focus:
Wild for Nature: EOCA’s Landcsape Legacy Project
Saving biodiversity on land and in oceans, and supporting communities in a warming world
Watch the video to find out more.
Imagine standing at a viewpoint, looking out at the environment around you. You can see the highest mountains, the valleys between them, the streams that become a meandering river leading to a lake, to an estuary and then out to the ocean. Within this landscape are a wide variety of different ecosystems, vital for biodiversity, mitigating against climate change, and for communities. These include alpine meadows, forests, peatlands, freshwater habitats, salt marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows, to name but a few.
As outdoor enthuiasts, we ‘go wild’ (get excited) for nature …. and also want to protect wild habitats for nature, leaving a legacy of a stonger, healthier, properly functioning environment for the generations to come.
This focus prioritises projects benefitting biodiversity in a wild landscape. Our definition of ‘landscape’ includes marine environments, and a broad range of wild, non-urban spaces. Projects must conserve, protect, enhance, restore, and/or reconnect habitats within a given landscape that are particularly important for the biodiversity there.
Highlighting biodiversity also addresses the importance that EOCA places on the issue of climate change. Projects will ensure that the habitats being conserved are those that sequester carbon, reduce emissions, enable adaptations to climate change, and/or protect against further habitat and biodiversity loss.
It is also very important that the projects EOCA funds are beneficial to the local communities that live in, or near, these habitats. Projects will encourage local stewardship of habitats, alleviate poverty, support local ecosystem services, whilst at the same time, having a link to outdoor enthusiasts who value these precious wild spaces.
As part of this focus, funds for an additional project were raised: Volunteering for Healthy Landscapes, in the Czech Republic, working with volunteers on a series of week long camps to restore a range of vital landscapes from a climate and biodiversity point of view. You can read more about the project HERE Donations given to EOCA via our website during 2021, 2022 and the first part of 2023 went into this project.
UPDATE:
Due to the pandemic impacting on face to face contact EOCA had with members, and the continuing urgency of these issues, EOCA extended the 2 year focus to 3 years, from 2020-2023.
At the end of 2023 as the focus came to an end, we totalled up the area impacted by the projects funded during the Wild for Nature focus. As our projects are so different, this is a tricky figure to calculate – some are intensive over a hectare, some are extensive and lighter touch over thousands of hectares, some have an indirect impact by linking isolated habitats. Also, some projects we funded the whole project, others we made a significant contribution which enabled the project to go ahead, and others a very small amount – but our funding was very useful for the project to be able to seek other funding.
We have come to a total based on the anticipated ‘direct impact’ figure each organisation gave us at the start of their project for the whole of the project (which we may have funded all or part of). We have included projects funded by summit members (when a member company finances the whole project through EOCA and manages the project for them) – some in the same way as above, some as a best estimate based on knowledge of the projects (details available).
In this way, we have worked out that EOCA funding contributed to the conservation of nearly three quarters of a million hectares during the three years.
Reforestation and ecotourism to protect biodiversity, Brazil
www.instagram.com/preserve_muriqui/
Funded: 2023
Preserve Muriqui aims to Save the Critically Endangered Northern Muriquis from extinction by protecting and expanding its habitat.
Ecosystem Impact Foundation / Yayasan Ecosystem Impact works to keep the wild landscapes of Bangkaru and Simeulue Islands, Aceh, Indonesia, wild through a sustainability approach where nature, people and business thrive alongside each other.
Cmelák’s main mission is to protect and restore the diversity of nature. For 28 years it has been returning life to its diversity, richness and beauty from where it had disappeared due to human activity. The organisation’s objectives are to contribute to the restoration of natural forests and the rescue of endangered native tree species and increase the number of places where endangered species of plants and animals find their home. The organisation involves the public in its activities, especially in practical field work, and inspire other landowners.
Source International ONLUS provides scientific and technical assistance and training to communities who will use it to protect the environments in which they live, aiming to empower communities that live in the most polluted places on earth.
Clean up action for vulnerable natural habitats, Ukraine
www.facebook.com/papilio.termeszetvedelm
Funded: 2023
PAPILIO aims, among other things to learn and spread the word about the natural resources and folk traditions of Transcarpathia, planning, managing and implementing of theoretical and practical ecological research, and to carry out small-scale landscape rehabilitation. To develop environmentally friendly forest and grassland management.
Fundación Actividades Biosféricas is a partner of Acción Serrana, a coalition of institutions and individuals committed to the conservation and ecological restoration of the mountain ecosystems throughout the mountains of South America.
Rescuing the Yorkshire Dales’ iconic wildflower meadows, UK
www.ydmt.org/what-we-do/landscape-and-wildlife/wildflower-meadows
Funded: 2023
Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) aims to support the people, landscape and wildlife of the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas.
Salviamo l’Orso (Save The Bear) is an association of volunteers that aims to carry out practical actions to save the Marsican brown bear (Ursus arctos marsicanus) from extinction and is becoming a reference point for the public who cares about bear conservation issues.
People and the Sea is supporting coastal communities in the Philippines to sustainably manage and benefit from their vital marine resources. People and the Sea aims to improve local livelihoods and protect marine biodiversity through a range of community-led initiatives focused on waste reduction, sustainable fishing, marine research, youth education and the economic resilience of coastal communities.
With birds as a flag, SEO / Birdlife focuses on conserving biodiversity with the participation and involvement of society.
The Mouse-Free Marion project aims to restore the critical breeding habitat of over two million seabirds on Marion Island in the sub-Antarctic by completely eradicating mice from the island.
Conservation Alliance International (CA) aims to improve wildlife and habitat management, and create wealthier healthier communities for local people and visitors. Its purpose is to empower communities in Africa to lead in biodiversity conservation and create opportunities for economic growth.
Endangered Wildlife Trust was founded in 1973 and operates throughout southern and East Africa, focusing on the conservation of threatened species and ecosystems.
Africa Foundation aims to nurture, restore and protect wild landscapes and seascapes by empowering the communities that are the custodians of these systems.
Terra Peninsular, A.C. is a non-profit civil association with activities in favor of the conservation of Baja California’s ecosystems, sustainable management of the region’s natural resources, protection of flora and fauna, and promotion of community participation.
Fundación para la Conservación de los Andes Tropicales (FCAT) is a grassroots Ecuadorian NGO dedicated to empowering local communities to restore vanishing forests and conserve endangered species.
Estonian Fund for Nature (SA Eestimaa Looduse Fond; stands for the preservation of natural diversity. It keeps an eye on the Estonian government in their processes of drawing up environmental regulations and of compiling development plans, participates in and convenes with different parties to plan discussions, restores damaged areas, and advises on sustainable management practices.
Cabo Verde Natura 2000 defends the environment, the conservation of natural resources and their ecosystems, the promotion of sustainable development and the preservation of the historical and archaeological heritage in the Cape Verde archipelago.
The project is addressing the critical threat to the Sumatran Orangutan and other species of global conservation importance that are depending on the integrity of the Leuser Ecosystem and the Gunung Leuser National Park within it.
This project aims to increase populations of vultures and other birds in the Velino Mountains in the Sirente Velino Regional Park.
Borneo’s peatland forests are important for rural communities, biodiversity, and as a globally-significant carbon store, but increasing frequency of wildfires is destroying the forest, damaging human health and causing globally-significant greenhouse gas emissions.
Namibia’s desert elephants are one of two desert elephant populations worldwide, surviving the extreme conditions of Namibia’s arid northwest where annual rainfall averages 150mm. As a keystone species, the elephants’ presence in the desert helps ensure the survival of other species that rely on their feeding habits, water-digging abilities and seed dispersal. They also generate revenue from tourism and create jobs for rural communities.
Semillistas’ mission is to look after the earth, the community, ensure that rural development is sustainable and undertake opensource biotechnical development. In particular, stopping desertification and thereby climate change is a particula focus through the reforestation of land destroyed by fire and human action, at the same time as promoting a participative and resilient society.
Portofino are a society made up of passionate professionals of the sea and the outdoors, committed to promote: education, experiences, emotions, research and communication projects related to the local area, the environment and its sports, with the overall aim to prompt a change towards a better future for us and our planet.
Cumbria Wildlife Trust is the only voluntary organization devoted solely to the conservation of wildlife and wild places of Cumbria, UK. Their conservation work has created 43 spectacular nature reserves in the county, supporting valuable habitats.
CIPAD-Centre for Research and Projects in Environment and Development is an independent organisation based in Jalisco Mexico. It is focused on contributing to conservation and sustainable management of natural capital that results fromsocially equitable sustainable development.
Since 1998 Hnutí DUHA has been organising volunteering weeks to make it possible for volunteers to get directly involved in conservation whilst learning to better understand nature and the environment. Over the course of 23 years, a total of 2,246 volunteers have spent 77,460 hours working voluntarily to support nature and biodiversity, planting more than 200,000 trees and benefitting numerous meadows, forests, peatlands and other precious habitats and ecosystems.
The Rewilding Oder Delta association aims to promote nature and landscape conservation.
Banco de Bosques Foundation is non-profit and its purpose is to defend, protect, maintain and develop forests and ecosystems in danger of extinction, whether due to deforestation, clearing or any other reason attributable to man and / or nature, and promote the sustainable management of the natural resources found in them, and the conservation of natural ecosystems.
The purpose of The Horus Institute is to improve the management of invasive alien species, to prevent biological invasions and restore natural ecosystems, while increasing awareness and governance capacity.
The purpose of the NGO Danube-Carpathian Program is to preserve and sustainably use natural heritage, support democratic processes and introduce innovative visions in nature conservation for the 21st century. It is a team of experts and scientists on ecology, conservation biology, sustainable development of natural ecosystems and natural resources and ecological legislation. They carry out research studies, environmental projects implementation, conservation management activities, environmental impact assessment, public campaigns support, work on improving environmental legislation etc.
Gili Eco Trust has been replenishing and restoring damaged coral reefs in Gili Matra marine park in Lombok, Indonesia, using different restorative methods for almost 2 decades. Biorocks have shown remarkable success, enhancing coral growth and increasing reef resilience.
This project will conserve 630 hectares of natural forest in Van Ho district, Vietnam, home to a diverse range of threatened flora and animals, including the Northern white-cheeked Gibbons.
