The latest newsletter from the Exmouth-based foundation

Joanna Toole Foundation newsletter April ’21

Having had to explain the long gap between the last two newsletters, now two come along at once because I can now announce some good news.

Please share this newsletter and encourage others to sign up via our website.

Thanks for your support. Adrian Toole, Chair of the Joanna Toole Foundation (JTF)

Standard Grants 2nd Round – Closed

Applications have now closed and the trustees are assessing 17 applications; that is several more than last time so it seems the word is getting about. We are looking in our Standard Grants to support projects with a long-term, sustainable benefit for animal welfare but are well aware that the funding situation of so many animal rescue centres around the world is so grave that it’s even getting into the mainstream press.

The Joanna Toole Annual Ghost Gear Solutions Award

The Joanna Toole Annual Ghost Gear Solutions Award is made possible by support from World Animal Protection, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative, Ocean Conservancy, the Government of Norway and Joanna’s friends, family members and colleagues. The award continues the work started by Claire, Joanna, and the team at World Animal Protection.

Joanna was a devoted animal lover, who dedicated her professional life to this work. This yearly award is a key component of the many initiatives that we plan to keep her legacy and mission alive. Jo is our guide and inspiration in this work and the Trustees thank all involved for their contribution to the award.

I was pleased to be involved in the 1st stage of the judging process; the final decisions were taken by an Expert Advisory Council convened by GGGI. The 2020 award was augmented, as was the 2019, with a large single donation and again there are two winners. After many delays in sorting out the details, now we can reveal all:

After an impressive round of submissions, the first awardee is Blue Ocean Gear, a US-based organisation, focused on tackling the issue of ghost gear by preventing gear loss using their Smart Buoy technology. Their project focuses on reducing ghost gear and its detrimental impact on sea life in the marine environment near St. Paul Island, Alaska. https://blueoceangear.com/

Jo at World Animal Protection offices 2016 with with dolphin made from recovered fishing nets

The second awardee is a project submitted by scientist Surshti Patel and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) to assess the feasibility of establishing the first ever ghost net collection and recycling system on the River Ganges, India, to mitigate the impact of discarded fishing gear on threatened wildlife, particularly the Ganges river dolphin. Surshti, who will work with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and local communities, says: “I am honoured and delighted to receive this award, which is particularly meaningful as a young British Indian woman committed to conservation.”

The full text of the press release by World Animal Protection is on our Website at https://joannatoolefoundation.org/gggi-award-grant/

Later in 2021 a further round will again be financed by World Animal Protection but in 2022 the Joanna Toole Foundation will be managing and funding this on our own.

New Fundraising Opportunities

Sadly we were unable to mark Jo’s birthday or the recent 2nd anniversary of her death by a gathering here in Exmouth but in the knowledge that you will be all out running, walking, jogging, or cycling in the Spring sunshine (or Autumn sunshine for those to the South), several of the trustees have set up accounts with Just Giving, ready for your sponsorship efforts.

I myself intend to cycle 50miles and I’d really appreciate your support. Click here to link to my Just Giving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to The Joanna Toole Foundation. You can easily set up your own page and collect donations for some super-human effort!

Thank you; please let us know how you are getting on and we hope to see you all down here next March!

Advisor Sienna Somers

In recent editions I have told you about two of our recently appointed advisors, Elizabeth Hogan and Sigrid Lüber. Now let me introduce you to Sienna Lula Somers, who we are pleased to welcome abroad. Sienna, is actually my relative but none the worse for that!

Sienna, has an academic background in conservation with a BSc (Hons) in Zoology and an MSc in Conservation Science and Policy from the University of Exeter. She has worked internationally, producing industry-leading research and reports, and has developed campaigns that annually engaged over 2 million citizens and had over 700,000 uses of the campaign hashtags per year on social media.

Currently as the Policy and Advocacy Manager for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Sienna leads campaigns to secure 30% of land and sea for nature’s recovery and works with communities to engage in advocacy to stand up for wildlife locally.

Sienna worked for several years as a Policy and Research Coordinator at Fashion Revolution, an international NGO tackling the social and environmental impacts of the fashion industry. Sienna worked with over 150 of the largest fashion brands and has driven them to disclose more information about their social and environmental practices.

Combining her work in fashion and conservation, Sienna’s specific interest is in addressing the release of plastic microfibres by synthetic clothing every time we wash our clothes. In 2018, she was asked by the House of Common’s Environmental Audit Committee to deliver evidence on the impacts of microfibres from textiles on the marine environment for their seminal inquiry into the sustainability of the fashion industry.