As the year draws to a close, the outdoor industry can look back with pride at what has been achieved in its name for conservation. The European Outdoor Conservation Association  (EOCA), a charity bringing together 110 companies working in the industry to raise money to protect, enhance and restore the wild spaces so loved and valued by outdoor enthusiasts has announced what has been acheived  in the last 12 months.

2013 has been one of tremendous growth for EOCA:

• 31 new members, equates to a 39% growth in membership
• 134,600 unique visits to its websites
• Over 2,500 followers on Facebook and 500 followers on Twitter
• Over 9 million people reached during the spring voting round, and 57,000 votes registered for conservation
• €181,000 committed to 8 conservation projects in 7 countries, bring the total spent on conservation since 2006 to over €1.26million
• The association is on track to have spent its second million Euros on conservation by 2016!!

Looking forward, the tremendous growth in members in 2013 will enable EOCA to launch a second annual voting round in 2014! This means that there will be two opportunities each year for projects to apply for funding, two opportunities for the association to communicate with consumers about its members and its funding through the voting, and more projects will receive funding from EOCA.  €200,000 has already been earmarked to spend on conservation projects in the coming year.

Tanya Bascombe and Catherine Savidge, Joint General Managers of EOCA said, “2013 has been a fantastic year for EOCA, in terms of growth, the number of companies having heard about us and wanting to get involved, and the increasing number of consumers who are interested in what we are doing.  We are also absolutely thrilled to be able to plan a second funding round for next year.  But, at the end of the day, our message is simple – every single new member for EOCA means more money goes into conservation.  And that is what it’s all about.”

Info:
EOCA