Help us raise funds to buy purpose made, reusable, easy to carry boxes to be donated to the Manx Shearwater Rescue community project and last for years to come. But why?

Every year from mid-August to mid-October, a community of volunteers comes together to rescue young Manx Shearwaters stranded on land. These amazing seabirds, of which over half the world’s population rely on Pembrokeshire’s islands each summer to breed, can be disorientated when they eventually leave. This is caused by the distraction of artificial light and strong winds. On land they are doomed unless rescued, because they have evolved to take off from the sea (or cliffs) and not land.

Volunteers travel around collecting stranded birds, placing them in cardboard boxes and then heading to suitable coastal release points.

There is a huge shout out for cardboard boxes each year, however over the last two years the number of rescued birds has risen and volunteers have found that carboard boxes are not ideal.

Rescues can take place in the rain, at beaches and birds are often released from boats at sea. Most boxes quickly become unusable due to the rain and sea spray, so more hardwearing boxes are urgently needed.

Also, volunteers are keen to minimise the spread of disease and cardboard boxes cannot easily be cleaned between birds.

A specialist company was approached and a bespoke design has been created using Correx. However, it’s not cheap! After an initial setup fee for tooling, each box costs approx £10.

The volunteers believe that the long-term benefits of these bespoke boxes are hugely worthwhile and have approached EcoDewi for help.

Note:

• Manx Shearwater Rescue is NOT part of EcoDewi and operates independently

• All funds raised go to the Manx Shearwater Rescue group