Conservation Partnerships & Programmes
Opticron is committed to promoting wildlife and nature observation and conservation in all the countries it serves. Programmes vary from direct sponsorship and support of events, projects and publications, to individual donations of equipment for volunteers involved in particular programmes.
WDC Shorewatch
WDC Shorewatch is a network of trained volunteers monitoring the presence and absence of whales and dolphins at selected sites around the Scottish coastline, in order to raise awareness and capture vital data crucial to the long term future of these amazing animals.
Opticron supports the Shorewatch programme by supplying subsidised equipment for the volunteers to use.
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The British Trust for Ornithology
Opticron has a long standing working relationship with the BTO both formally through the Trusts Business Partnership Programme and more informally with many of its staff and volunteers who own, use and occasionally break their equipment!
A long standing believer in birdwatchers giving something back to their hobby, we have been actively recruiting new members since 2005 through our Free Membership Scheme as well as supporting individual projects such as the Trusts flagship study: Bird Atlas and the enormously successful Cuckoo Tracking Project.
For more information about the BTO visit www.bto.org.
ORCA
ORCA is one of Europe’s leading whale & dolphin conservation charities dedicated to studying and protecting whales, dolphins and porpoises in UK and European waters.
Opticron is supporting the organisations team of volunteers with free equipment to help them in their important survey work on ferry routes in the Bay of Biscay, North & Irish Seas and English Channel.
For more information about the work that ORCA does visit www.orcaweb.org.uk.
Butterfly Conservation
For several years Opticron has been a Corporate Member of Butterfly Conservation. The charity works across the UK to try to reduce and hopefully reverse the decline in the numbers of threatened moth and butterfly species.
We have provided equipment for some specific projects as well as contributing an annual membership fee for the organisations ongoing work.
The Wildlife Trusts
Opticron works closely with many regional Trusts to promote our joint interest in wildlife observation and conservation. This support includes;
- running optics field days on reserves generating funds through sales
- sponsorship of events and competitions
- running guided walks and education programmes
- supporting special projects and education services
- supplying equipment for volunteers to carry out conservation work
Through our relationship with the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Peterborough we established a licensing agreement to be the exclusive supplier of Wildlife Trust branded optics. The Wildlife Trust branded range is sold by a number of the Trusts and through our dealer network. A percentage of all sales is donated to the Trust.
Other Trusts we are working with or have provided support to in recent years include those responsible for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Dorset, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside, Leicestershire and Rutland, Lincolnshire, London, North Wales, Northumberland, Nottinghamshire, Scotland, the South and West Wales, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire.
Sponsorships & Donations
Opticron receives and acts on dozens of requests for sponsorships each year from individuals looking for kit for themselves or their club, as well as requests for support from organisations looking for funds to help them in their charitable work in the wider community. The list below shows some examples of recent sponsorships and product donations.
How To Get Involved
If you or your organisation are interested in working in partnership with Opticron, are looking for sponsorship or wish to apply for a donation of equipment please download and complete an application form, available here. Once completed, please email the form and any other information to support your application to Pete Gamby at the address shown on the form.