The Boat project
Only 16% of coastal areas and waterways are clean, according to the 2019 IBAL litter survey, where Cork Harbour near Midleton was deemed ‘heavily littered’ and one of the worst areas surveyed according to the findings. It further stated “Cork Harbour at Midleton was subject to dumping, with heavy levels of land-based food related items and large numbers of traffic cones and household appliances discarded in the water”. That story headlined the six-one news on RTÉ. We aim to reverse that trend with this project.
Our current boat project sees us wishing to purchase a Pioner Multi Pro pictured below. This project will cost approximately €45,000. It's a lot of money - but we have a plan.
We will need to fundraise €9,000. This has gotten a major boost as we have received a major donation of €5,000 from an anonymous donor who believes in the strong merits of this project. So now we need to try and fundraise €4,000. We are over half way there.
The balance funding we will apply from a European grant. We believe that we are positively placed to satisfy the awarding criteria. We previously have been successful.
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The Pioner Multi Pro will engage in community led initiatives as follows:
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Provide new and social opportunities to those who wish to engage with the marine environment, but who normally can't.
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Facillitate research on marine litter and its sources in an Irish context.
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Education
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Biodiversity - Sea bird surveys for example
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Raising public awareness
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This project has a geographical focus in Cork and Waterford. We will survey other areas of high importance in Kerry (Blasket Sound/Skelligs) and in other coastal communities.
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Our management of the Irish Coastline will increase from 1.5% (40km) to more than 7% (240km)
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There will be opportunities to partake in Seafood festivals and other maritime events.
This project is about protecting tourism, our marine life and our recreational assets, but it is equally about global impact and our future – the litter we encounter in these areas is marine litter, which is threatening our very survival.