Hurtigruten Foundation Invites Sustainability-Focused and Environmentally Conscious Non-Profits and Projects to Apply for Funding with New Grant Opportunities

Oslo, Norway (March 27, 2024) – Since its inception in 2015, Hurtigruten Foundation has supported more than 150 projects in 23 different countries with a total of over 10 million NOK (nearly 1 million USD). Ahead of its 1 May 2024 deadline, the foundation is inviting non-profits and projects to apply for funding which align with the Foundation’s three areas of focus: preserving endangered wildlife, battling plastic waste and marine litter, and supporting local communities in the areas where the Hurtigruten Group operates.

Past grants from the foundation have contributed to numerous environmental protections including the preservation of over 1,000 sea turtle nests from poachers on Boa Vista, restoration of more than 2,000 square meters of kelp forest at the north tip of Tromsøya, and the release of 3,923 endangered hawksbill sea turtle hatchlings in Panama.

The mission of the Hurtigruten Foundation is to create a lasting positive impact in places the Hurtigruten Group sails, while empowering guests to engage with the communities they visit. All costs of operating the foundation are covered by the Hurtigruten Group’s businesses, allowing all funds raised to be donated to the recipient organizations.

Several previous grants provided by the Foundation have supported environmental preservation programmes, highlights include:

Safeguarding the future of Antarctic Wildlife

A multi-year grant was awarded to world-renowned whale expert Dr. Ari Friedlaender and the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Friedlaender and his team will be collecting tissue biopsy samples from humpback whales throughout the feeding season over a three-year period, supported by HX, who is providing berthing on Antarctica expeditions between 2024 and 2026. They will evaluate the samples to determine pregnancy rates in this population as well as stress and nutritional hormone levels. The team will then link inter-annual changes in these metrics to sea ice and krill availability, contributing to the only long-term data set measuring the impacts of climate change on Antarctic baleen whales. Their goal is to develop more meaningful conservation measures for Antarctic wildlife.

Protecting fragile and precious nature on Svalbard from human impact

The Foundation has been supporting beach clean-ups organized by Aktiv i Fruiluft along Svalbard’s barren coastlines and remote beaches. More than 10 tons of plastic waste and marine litter has been removed to date, and the expeditions have also saved three reindeer that had their antlers entangled in ghost fishing nets. The clean-up operations organized by Aktiv i Friluft have covered a total of 61.8 km of coastline so far, and the Hurtigruten Foundation have provided a new grant for an upcoming clean-up along Prins Karls Forland in 2024.

Re-establishing a critically endangered species

With the support of Hurtigruten Foundation, the Ecuadorian NGO, Fundación de Conservación Jocotoco, has worked to protect the critically endangered Galapagós Petrel since 2021. Since the arrival of foreign predators, such as rats and feral cats, the nests of the Galápagos Petrel are being looted to such an extent that 72% fail to produce any young. However, Jocotoco's conservation work to remove non-native predators and fencing in the reserve has proven successful as the Petrel bird is finally allowed to safely nest in their burrows. During the 2021-2022 season, Jocotoco recorded 30 active nests with chicks with 22 successful fledglings, compared to 12 in 2021 and only 4 in 2020. Earlier this month CEO Martin Schaefer in Jocotoco reported that currently they have "12 chicks and another 25 pairs breeding,” which marks a new record.

To learn more, visit the Hurtigruten Foundation’s website.