Expedition cruise line Hurtigruten offers funding for community projects

The deadline for application submissions is 1 November 2021

Despite the pandemic, Hurtigruten Foundation was able to donate to several projects across the world in 2020 and is looking to support more initiatives that help local communities and endangered species, and lead to a reduction in plastics and marine litter.

Henrik A Lund, managing director of Hurtigruten Foundation, said: “Our mission is to invest in the local communities our guests’ visit. As the world locked down due to the pandemic, we scaled up and continued to support communities that needed urgent assistance on various projects. In fact, 2020, was our second-highest year in terms of sizeable donations from the Foundation, so we are very proud of what we have achieved and want to support even more projects now that we are moving out of the pandemic and returning to full operations.”

Communities in coastal areas and remote destinations that adventure travel company Hurtigruten Group visits are being encouraged to apply for funding through the Hurtigruten Foundation.

So far, Hurtigruten Foundation has invested in initiatives such as the Oceanites Antarctic Site Inventory project that monitors penguin population changes in Antarctica

President of the Oceanites Ron Naveen said: “Hurtigruten Foundation funding is critical for us, especially at a time when data collection was more difficult than ever when the world was at a standstill due to the pandemic. Nevertheless, we were able to continue to collect data at penguin breeding sites and to update our analyses aimed at distinguishing the direct and interactive effects of climate change, fishing, and tourism. The project ensures that the best and most up-to-date and scientific information is freely available to all Antarctic Treaty stakeholders and we are hugely grateful for Hurtigruten Foundation’s support in enabling us to continue our critical work.”

Other recipients of funding include the South Georgia Heritage Trust, the Association for Greenlandic Children, Norwegian Search and Rescue Dogs and Climate Sentinels.

Applications for Hurtigruten Foundation funding for 2021 closes on 1 November 2021. For more information, visit the Hurtigruten Foundation website