District Environment

LATEST UPDATES 2022

01NOV22: ENVIRONMENT GRANT - Application Form update

The Environment Grant Application Form has been updated and can be found on the Project Proposal page
Queries please contact Bob Hadley via email at bob.handley@hilldene.com

08FEB22: RODNEY HUGGINS AWARD

As well as the kudos of winning, there is a bursary of up rp £250 available to help develop the project further. The Bursary is donated by the Rodney Huggins Family Trust

Click Application Form to view information and entry form

Regards Bob Handley

01JAN22: ENVIRONMENT - Turn Your Footsteps into Forests

TREELKY offers an easier way to help fight climate change. There is no single easy solution to climate change but planting millions of trees is a key part of it

The Treekly Challenge is to maintain a daily walking habit of 5,000 steps. Hit the target 5 days in a week, and in return one mangrove tree is planted on your behalf in Madagascar

Visit the TREEKLY website for more information. Make this a club project and, along with other clubs in the District, we will see if we can plant more trees than the rest of Rotary in Great Britain and Ireland. 

Please refer to APP INSTRUCTIONS and/or follow the instructions below:

·         Download the Treekly app to your phone from, instal and select your step counter

·         To Register your account to your Rotary club - click on "Together" in the bottom of the screen, enter your Club RI number for the "Group Code", no password required

·         See other opportunities on the guide you can download here"TREEKLY offers an easier way to help fight climate change. 

There is no single easy solution to climate change
but planting millions of trees is a key part of it

Regards Bob Handley

UPDATES pre-2022

More than $18 million in Foundation global grant funding has been allocated to environment-related projects over the past five years. Creating a distinct area of focus to support the environment will give Rotary members even more ways to bring about positive change in the world and increase our impact. Grant applications for projects will be accepted after 1 July 2021.

In 1990-91, RI President Paulo V.C. Costa made the environment one of his primary causes, creating the Preserve Planet Earth subcommittee, which looked at ways clubs and members could conduct environmental initiatives.

“We have finally caught up to Costa [his vision],” says Past RI President Ian H.S. Riseley, chair of the Environmental Issues task force, which championed the new area of focus.

“As a lifelong environmentalist, I’m delighted that our great organization has recognized that the environment is a worthy and appropriate destination for our project activity,” says Riseley. “This is an exciting moment in Rotary history.”

Supporting the environment becomes Rotary's seventh area of focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.

Rotarians are doers. Show them a problem and they look for solutions. But a global problem such as climate change might seem daunting to even the most resourceful Rotary member.

Break that complex problem down into smaller pieces, however, and you find there are many things Rotarians can do — and are already doing, with help from The Rotary Foundation.

A coalition of researchers and scientists led by environmentalist and writer Paul Hawken mathematically modelled the climatic and economic impact of potential solutions to learn which ones would yield the best results for people and the planet. Drawdown researchers ranked solutions from 1 to 80 based on their potential to avert or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The list included some surprising possibilities, such as educating girls, promoting family planning, and assisting farmers. As it happens, all of those align with Rotary’s areas of focus.

Project Drawdown is one of the projects supported by ESRAG – the Environmental Sustainability Rotary Action Group ESRAG has six key Focus Areas to make a difference:

·         Biodiversity

·         Climate Change

·         Sustainable living

·         Food Security

·         Pollution

·         Circular Economy