Catlin Bermuda and the Bermuda End-to-End Charitable Trust have announced a new grant aimed at supporting projects linked to marine education and conservation.

The Catlin Marine Grant will offer a total of $100,000 in funding over the next three years to projects linked to the marine environment.

Anne Mello of the Bermuda End-to-End Charitable Trust said since its inception, the annual event has raised $4.5 million and funded a total of 145 grants to charities across the Island.

“When we came to talking about renewing our contract for title sponsor, we came with the knowledge that no matter how much we have done, together or separately, there’s so much more that needs to be done,” Ms Mello said.

She said that, given the economic challenges, much of the focus for fundraising has been directed towards the “urgent and the immediate”, but other important areas such as the environment had garnered less attention.

“The environment is very important to us to, and as the talks and discussions with Catlin came the knowledge and the understanding and the clarity that the environment is where we wanted to focus, and in particular, the marine environment of Bermuda.

“We are delighted and excited to be a part of this initiative.”

Catlin CEO Graham Pewter said it was hoped the grant would help build a lasting legacy, together with the recent Catlin Seaview Survey and other initiatives.

“We are proud to have created, to have been involved in the creation of the Catlin Marine Grant, an initiative which will increase awareness or promote action to preserve Bermuda’s marine involvement,” he said.

“Our goal is to encourage the creation of new projects which have measurable outcomes and are sustainable over time.

“These can be either scientific or educational projects. We welcome collaborative initiatives from local charities for this new award.”

He noted the deadline for submissions is February 28 and applications are available to download at the End-to-End website, www.bermudaendtoend.bm.

Environment Minister Trevor Moniz thanked the Bermuda End-to-End Charitable Trust and Catlin Bermuda for the creation of the new grant, which he said would provide significant funding to valuable projects.

“I commend their goal to encourage the creation of new environmental projects which have measurable outcomes and are sustainable over time — whether they be scientific or educational projects,” he said.

“I am sure you have heard of the critical state that many of the world’s reef systems are currently in, with mass coral die off and fish loss.

“But to date Bermuda has been spared much of this and we are blessed with not only a healthy system but also the world’s most northerly one.

“As such we can still rely on our reefs for food, coastline protection and as one of our major tourism attractions.”

Mr Moniz noted the role played by the Catlin Seaview Survey in providing data vital for monitoring change while giving the rest of the world an opportunity to take a peak at the wreck of the Mary Celeste via Google Street View.

“It is a great way to preserve what it looks like now while also promoting diving in Bermuda as broadly as possible,” Mr Moniz said. “We Bermudians have a strong tradition of stewardship of our reefs, a tradition that this Government intends to continue.”