At OutDoor Friedrichshafen 2013, we interviewed Catherine Savidge and Tanya Bascombe, Joint General Managers of EOCA. With them, we talked about EOCA last success, projects and future aims.
Interview: Andrea Bianchi – MountainBlog
Video shooting/editing: Matteo Menapace – Mountainblog
There was an air of celebration at this year’s OutDoor party in Friedrichshafen as the names of the 2013 Conservation Champions and Summit Members of the European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) were announced.
Following the announcement to the nearly 5,000 strong crowd that EOCA had not only signed up its 100th member, but also signed up a further 6 companies at the show itself, the prestigious awards were presented to 5 companies who had made the most impact on conservation over the year via their involvement with EOCA.
The Summit Member is a new award to recognise those companies which take it upon themsleves to fund entire conservation projects through EOCA. By making this tremendous commitment, these companies make a significant contribution to conservation work which fits with the ethos of their company, or which is of particular interest to them. The first ever EOCA Summit Members were announced as: Original Buff, S.A. which has chosen to support the ‘Mountain Forests of Catalonia’ project, in addition to 6 other projects it has funded over the last 2 years. The North Face is funding a winter conservation programme implemented by Respect the Mountains designed to educate and inspire up to 50 young people as well as enable them to take part in hands on conservation work.
As in previous years, the EOCA Conservation Champion award is about members getting involved, taking the initiative and making a difference for conservation! Companies receiving this recognition had ‘gone the extra mile’ to support conservation through the association. There were three winners this year.
The first was Polartec – for raising awareness within the industry via messages on 4,800 tshirts at OutDoor, the Saturday night party and climbing festivals. This in turn has led to new members joining EOCA and therefore more money to spend on conservation. KEEN footwear has raised additional funds for EOCA at all of the recent trade shows in their own cool, relaxed fashion. Icecream, beer, entertainment and footwear sales have proved very popular and resulted in an extra €10,000 being put directly into conservation projects in the last 2 years. Finally Bergans of Norway has taken the initiative at each trade show to raise additional funds for the association and enhance conservation awareness. From hosting happy hours, holding competitions, and providing prizes, this enthusiastic member has also provided additional support to EOCA funded projects and nominated their sponsoerd polar explorer Rune Gjeldnes as an EOCA ambassador.
“All these members have gone above and beyond simply paying a membership fee to EOCA,” explained Tanya Bascombe, Joint General Manager of EOCA,”and we are thrilled to be able to honour them in this way. There are so many ways to support and protect our wild spaces and get involved in spreading the message about conservation, and these awards demonstrate how our members are embracing that opportunity”.
The six newest members of EOCA who signed up at the show were Goal Zero, LiteXpress, Montane, Qualiance International, Craghoppers and The Original Mountain Marathon – taking the current number of EOCA members to 108!
Contacts:
EOCA
During the first day of the OutDoor trade fair in Friedrichshafen, the European OutDoor Conservation Association (EOCA) will be unveiling the 8 conservation projects it will be funding this year. In total, €181,000 is being committed to conservation by the association this year, ensuring that vital conservation work can take place around the world.
EOCA, which will also be celebrating signing up its 100th member at the fair, puts 100% of all the membership fees it receives from its members into conservation work, together with 100% of all monies it raises at OutDoor and other shows. Each project that EOCA funds can apply for up to €30,000 for their work.
This year, 57,000 votes cast by consumers chose 3 projects to be funded by EOCA. These projects will carry out work to conserve snow leopards in the Indian Himalaya, orangutans in Borneo and high value landscapes in Romania. Following this, members of EOCA voted to support projects to conserve bears in Spain, snow leopards in the Altai Republic and woodlands in Mali. Two members of EOCA have also decided to fund projects entirely themselves this year. Original Buff, S.A. will be enabling 9 weeks of volunteer work in the Catalonian mountain forests to restore habitats, and improve access to walkers. The North Face will be enabling Respect the Mountains to run an EPIC – Exploring (& Education about) Peaks, Inspiring Conservation- day for 50 young people in the Massif Central in France. More details on all of these projects can be seen below.
Catherine Savidge, Joint General Manager of EOCA said ‘Through the generosity of our forward-thinking members, all from the European outdoor industry, we are able to provide substantial support for conservation work around the world. All of the projects EOCA supports will benefit threatened species and habitats, and all have a clear link to the outdoor enthusiast, enhancing their outdoor experience or reducing their impact on the environment.
2013 EOCA Funded Projects:
Protection and Restoration of Critical Orangutan Habitat, Southern Borneo (Nominating member Fusion Clothing. Chosen in conjunction with National Geographic Germany)
The Sabangau tropical peat-swamp forest is one of the most important rainforests found on Borneo, due to its carbon storage ability and high levels of biodiversity. It is under massive threat from conversion, swamp drainage, fires, illegal logging and wildlife hunting. This project will restore areas of peat swamp, replant burnt forest areas, and enable community patrol teams to protect the forest and its orangutans from the threats they face.
Restoring High Altitude Habitats for the Snow Leopard, Indian Himalaya (Nominating member Dynafit. Chosen in conjunction with readers of Alpin Magazin)
Snow leopards are one of the most endangered big cats, with only about 3500-7000 left in the world. The Upper Spiti Valley’s underdeveloped alpine habitat has been identified as one of the most important snow leopard habitats in India. The goal of this project is to help communities safeguard the delicate Upper Spiti ecosystem and its wildlife while continuing their traditional way of life. This will be achieved by keeping 25 square km of steppe grasslands free from livestock to allow snow leopard prey to recover, an insurance scheme requiring farmers to safeguard the snow leopards and compensating them for livestock lost to leopard predation, and conservation education for local school children.
Discover Târnava Mare, Romania (Nominating member Vaude. Chosen in conjunction with The Great Outdoors, NORR Magazin, Bike & Trekking, Sport Partner, and LIFT)
The Târnava Mare landscape is one of the last great high-nature landscapes surviving in lowland Europe. Its many valuable habitats have evolved in association with traditional low-impact agriculture, but the region is under great pressure from poverty and abandonment due to lack of economic prospects in the area. ADEPT will work with locals to build 15km of mountain bike trail, linking 3 villages and involving 70 green tourism providers, 5 schools and 1000 small-scale farming families. The project will develop and promote a tourism strategy for the area so that results are sustainable in the future, enabling people to stay in the area and to maintain the landscape.
Snow Leopard Conservation in the Altai Mountains (Nominating member Vaude. Chosen by EOCA Members)
Snow leopards are listed by the IUCN as ‘Endangered’. Threats they face in the Altai area are poaching, subsistence pastoralism and retribution killings, as well as loss of prey base. Through this project, Biosphere
Expeditions aims to make them more valuable to the local communities alive rather than dead, by engaging, training and paying locals to be involved in their conservation together with scientists and volunteers, and by developing sustainable tourism in the area.
Fruits for Bears, Northern Spain (Nominating member Patagonia. Chosen by EOCA members)
The Cantabrian mountains in Northern Spain do not produce enough food to support a healthy population of bears, meaning that they move into urban areas looking for food. This project will improve bear habitat by planting fruit trees, including cherry, chestnut and rowan, and by installing 7.5 million bees in hives as pollinators, to ensure there is enough fruit to support the bears. The honey produced will help raise awareness of bear conservation with the many outdoor enthusiasts and locals who hike, bike and climb in the area.
Regreening Ségou, Mali (Nominating member Ferrino. Chosen by EOCA members)
Ségou is part of Mali’s arid Sahelian zone which has suffered dramatic deforestation due to agricultural land clearance, fuelwood use and fodder collection. This has led to soil erosion and desertification. Nearly 42,000 people in 70 villages will benefit from this project, which will establish 11 new tree nurseries, and plant over 320,000 trees to protect the environment and provide food, training and income to the local community. It will also provide an attractive area for travellers to visit and experience.
Mountain Forests Catalonia (Nominating member Petzl Foundation. Funded entirely by Original Buff, S.A.)
This forest management project will enable 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 will, amongst other things, enhance the habitat for the Capercaille and improve access to outdoor users by restoring and maintaining forest tracks.
EPIC – Exploring (& Education About) Peaks, Inspiring Conservation (Funded entirely by The North Face)
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
To find out more about the Association please go to: www.outdoorconservation.eu
The European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) is delighted to announce that it has now signed up 100 member and partners. This milestone, achieved in just 7 years, will be celebrated at this year’s OutDoor show in Friedrichshafen.
Since 1st January 2013, 19 new members have joined the association, together with 3 trade association partners and 1 new media partner, swelling the membership by a massive 29% in just 6 months – and taking the total number of members to 102.
One of the most recent companies to sign up to EOCA to help achieve this target is Arc’teryx Equipment Inc. Joanne Mayzes, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Arc’teryx said “Arc’teryx is a company from North Vancouver Canada, with a vast playground of mountain wilderness just minutes away from our head office. Joining EOCA aligns with our mandate of helping to protect the environments in which we play. We support our global community of climbers, hikers and skiers who play in the outdoors by protecting wild areas across the globe. We see the EOCA as an effective, successful partner in helping to protect these environments.”
Tomas Torstensson, co-founder of Kozi Kidz who have also signed up added, “we are passionate about giving children the opportunity to enjoy, understand and connect with nature and the outdoors. Joining EOCA was a natural step for us to take.
Catherine Savidge, Joint General Manager of EOCA said ‘reaching 100 members so soon is a clear demonstration that the European outdoor industry is passionate about caring for the great outdoors and the wild spaces we all enjoy exploring. It is also a reflection of the fact that outdoor companies value the way in which EOCA can harness the collective contributions of many members, and direct these funds to the most worthwhile, relevant and effective conservation projects worldwide.’
The nine companies who signed up most recently to reach the 100 target, will be presented with their membership certificates on the main stage at the OutDoor party in Friedrichshafen on 13th July in front of a crowd of thousands from the outdoor industry. They are: Arc’teryx, RAB, Trek and Mountain Ltd, HEY-Sport, Scandinavian Outdoor Group, Scandinavian Outdoor Consulting, Mountains4U, Unifi and Kozikidz. All of EOCA’s members and partners are listed on its website at www.outdoorconservation.eu
Our Vision: The outdoor sector and the millions of people who enjoy the great outdoors are active champions for the conservation of nature and wild places*
* EOCA defines 'wild places' as non-urban environments and ecosystems occurring in as natural a state as possible, given the area's location and use. This may include for example moorland, hills, mountains, coasts, rivers, forest, grassland, peatland, lake and ocean areas.
There are currently over 150 members of this not-for profit Association, stretching from Norway to Italy, and Spain to Poland. As a charitable organisation directly funding specific conservation projects with money raised from the European outdoor industry, EOCA enables the industry to work together to make a real difference.
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European Outdoor Conservation Association
Registered as a not-for-profit association in Kanton Zug, Switzerland
Registration no. CH-170.6.000.188-3
tel: +44 (0) 1539 727255
info@eocaconservation.org
www.eocaconservation.org
