We are delighted to announce that the William Grant Foundation will be supporting CAOLAS’ work in a number of exciting ways over the next two years.

The William Grant Foundation is a non-profit association established to support charitable causes in Scotland.  Its valuable work is funded by William Grant and Sons Ltd.

In supporting CAOLAS, the Foundation’s Natural and Built Environment Group hopes to enable the charity to further establish and develop its valuable work to improve and conserve local marine and aquatic habitats and species. The Group recognises the value of the local community’s role, including via citizen science and schools involvement. It is hoped that the funding will help the charity to progress key projects and continue to generate wider community support.

CAOLAS’ following three projects will benefit greatly from the generous support of the William Grant Foundation:

Appointment of a part-time Marine Community Support Officer

The post will build on the work done by CAOLAS volunteers over the past 6 years in:

• Organising and administering events and activities to maximise community involvement and engagement with marine conservation and protection
• Promoting CAOLAS and disseminating information and understanding of the value of our marine environment.

Applications for this role are now being received. Full details on this page.

The Native Oyster Project

This project aims to:

• Restore native oysters to support biodiversity in the MPA
• Raise awareness about marine conservation and habitat restoration
• Create a demonstration and research MPA, to connect Morvern, Ardnamurchan and the Isle of Mull together across the existing MPA.

The funding will help CAOLAS provide schools and public outreach sessions, carry out local surveying of restoration sites and monitor the success of the restoration efforts.

Loch Sunart MPA Benthic Survey Data Presentation and Analysis

This project will address the current lack of knowledge and understanding about the distribution, extent, abundance and biodiversity of our marine environment. The rich marine ecosystems are fragile and vulnerable to pressure. Without greater understanding and comprehensive mapping of the coastal and marine habitat, our ability to protect, and preserve it is limited.