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JANUARY 2019

Dear Readers,

The annual lunch for the Foundation's Board of Experts was held in Paris on 18 December 2018. It was a very nice moment to gather, and for me, the occasion to express, to each of them, my warmest thanks and to highlight their unswerving commitment to our work. They are the cornerstone of the stringent project selection procedure the Foundation established from the very outset. So a huge thank-you to our 34 volunteer experts, who support the Foundation’s 'Project Selection Committee' in its decision-making with their invaluable analysis and recommendations!

In the coming months, a new research study will be completed on the European fishing industry. This fundamental study, undertaken by BLOOM, will shed light on the opaque subsidy schemes that play a major role in the destruction of marine ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods. ‘That’s how we win our battles’, explains Claire Nouvian, founder and president of BLOOM, ‘by producing indisputable scientific evidence’. Guest of honor at the lunch, listen to her, in this newsletter, clarifying her approach. Her exemplary victory in having a ban imposed on deep-sea bottom trawling earned her the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize. She keeps on fighting today with the same energy and pugnacity against the disaster foretold of electrical fishing.

I am delighted that this new year is beginning with the voice of Claire Nouvian. Hers is a determined voice! The voice of a small organization that has succeeded, against all odds, in making itself heard by major decision-makers. It is also the voice of all the unseen in the ocean depths, and it warns of invaluable know-how in danger of disappearing. She is inspiring and encouraging! My wish is that this newsletter exists not only to inform, but above all to stir us to action!

I hope you will enjoy reading this issue.

Jacqueline Délia Brémond
Co-Founder/Co-Chair

‘It is public funds that are being used to destroy both the seabed and sustainable livelihoods. We can no longer let this happen.’ 

The annual lunch for the Foundation’s Board of Experts was held in Paris on 18 December 2018. Claire Nouvian, founder and Chair of BLOOM, partner of the Foundation since 2017, came to talk to us about her campaigning work. In 2016, she succeeded in having a European ban imposed on deep-sea bottom trawling. Winner of the 2018 Goldman Environmental Award, in the same year she was behind a European parliamentary vote against electric pulse fishing. But for BLOOM ‘the battle is not yet won. The key issue is to protect the living world and to safeguard the last sustainable artisanal fishing units!’ The European public subsidy scheme, which encourages highly destructive fishing practices, is clearly called into question here...

The Foundation’s two 2019 Calls for Proposals are open until 1 February

• The Program Fund call for proposals covers the Foundation’s four focus sectors: Sustainable Agriculture, Sustainable Fishing, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Technologies. The six eligible countries are Ecuador, Peru, Mozambique, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. The Foundation is now encouraging project holders to incorporate a Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) component in their proposals. Before submitting your project, please consult our full selection criteria here.
• The call for proposals for the 'Endangered Animal Species' small grants fund has specific selection criteria, which can be consulted here.

Seven of the new projects selected in 2018 can be consulted on the Foundation’s website

The Foundation selected 11 new projects in 2018, bringing the total number of projects supported since 2004 up to 319, with an investment of over 25 million euros. Click below to discover the first seven project factsheets on our website.

For an overview of all the projects we support, click here.

Urban sanitation project
in the city of Magway, Myanmar

Selected to be part of the ROSAMUR project implemented by GRET, the city of Magway has 75,000 inhabitants. Every day, large quantities of waste end up in the city’s drainage canals, are dumped in the streets or burnt near residential areas. This project, supported by the Foundation since 2017, has a team in place working with the local authorities to find ways of improving waste collection that meet local needs. Sustainable environmental protection and the health of local communities are at stake. A pilot composting unit is currently being trialled, leading to new sustainable initiatives such as community gardens and market gardens. To find out more about this project, supported by the Foundation, click here.

Protection of fisheries resources
in Inhambane Bay, Mozambique

In this video, three beneficiaries of the Ocean Revolution project describe the specific ways in which their lives have changed since the creation of nine Community Conservation Areas (CCA) and the establishment of enforcement patrols. The protection of nursery areas has led to the gradual restoration of ecosystems, benefiting local fishers and their communities, who are slowly regaining their livelihoods and can now imagine a future for themselves in Inhambane Bay. To find out more about this project, supported by the Foundation, click here.

Protection of sea turtles in Côte d’Ivoire

Since 2010, the NGO Conservation des Espèces Marines (CEM) has been running a sea turtle conservation project in Côte d’Ivoire. Thanks to this initiative, poaching has virtually ceased in the Grand Bereby area, located in Bas-Sassandra District. Find out more in the factsheet about local community involvement in this project.

Download the factsheet here.

Find out about the CEM project here.

Editor-in-chief: O. Braunsteffer
Graphic design and text: B. Galliot, B. Gicquaud
The Foundation wishes to thank its partners for the photographic material included in this issue.