HIEF Update, Winter 2022

 Youth Action Plan by the Community of Arran Seabed Trust (COAST)  

HIEF grant? £14,000
Impact? COAST’s Youth Action Plan will inspire, engage and educate the local Isle of Arran youngsters and disadvantaged youngsters from the mainland about how to protect our precious in-shore marine habitats. The HIEF grant will enable COAST to begin to develop a Youth Action Plan programme.

Why is this important? This programme will help ensure key activities, from tackling sea lice infestations and plastic waste to mitigating land-based run off and its associated nutrient imbalance, are accessible to the next generation of nature champions.
Read more here

 Tackling marine litter with the Scottish Islands Federation

HIEF grant? £14,270
Impact? While the problem of marine litter is well known around the world, scientific data collection is sporadic and inconsistent. The Scottish Islands Federation is launching a project to standardise marine litter data collection for the Scottish islands. The HIEF grant will help the project collate the data in ways it can be used to lobby for support to deal with this ever-growing problem.

Why is this important? Marine litter is a particular and unprecedented problem, especially for island communities.  This grant will help empower the Scottish Islands Foundation to collect the reliable evidence required to obtain financial support to tackle the issue.
Read more here

 Pilot project to reduce fishing net & rope cutting waste at source

HIEF grant? £10,381
HIEF grant impact? This HIEF grant will fund a pilot project to tackle the problem fishing net and rope waste at its source.  Across 5 harbours, this project will work with fishermen/women to collect net and rope cuttings quayside, recycle them and turn the collections into plaques for each participating harbour.

Why is this important? The lessons from this pilot will be shared with KIMO (an international network of local governments, working together for healthy seas, clean beaches & thriving coastal communities), so this pilot could lead to a significant reduction of marine plastic waste at source, given that almost 30% of marine plastic is derived from fishing net and rope cuttings.

Read more here

 Seagrass seed germination pilot programme with Seawilding

HIEF grant? £15,000
HIEF grant impact? HIEF is funding a pilot project to identify the best way to germinate seagrass seeds to help replant the ocean floor with carbon hungry seagrass meadows. Seagrass meadows account for 15% of ocean carbon storage, yet an estimated 95% of them have been destroyed. Seawilding and their community volunteers are on a mission to regenerate these underwater pastures and have already planted ¾ acre.

Why is this important? The results of this pilot, the germination rates & the success of the seedlings, will be shared nationally and internationally meaning our funding will help to facilitate and scale up the regeneration of these fantastic nature-based carbon stores.

Read more here

Inspired to help support projects like these and help to support nature? If so, please visit our page here.

Thank you again to everyone for supporting HIEF and for staying tuned into our newsletters.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to get in touch: sally@hief.scot