With more than 34 years on the go, the Artificial Reef is the longest standing project of marine conservation in the Bay of Gibraltar. This has successfully lead to creating a habitat that has significantly increased the biodiversity in the area.
Via our sister charity GONHS the founder of the Helping Hand Trust, Eric, has been appointed Director of Projects for the Gibraltar Government to provide daily care for the Barbary Macaques in Gibraltar's Upper Rock Nature Reserve. Far beyond job description, Eric also set up a research centre; over the years it has been extended with the help of international scholars who came to visit the endangered species and only free-ranging primates in Europe.
Some years ago, the Helping Hand Trust was donated some empty bee hives. About the same time we were called out to see if we could help with the removal of a bee swarm!
Fortunately we knew a gentleman who had kept bees in the past. So together with one of the donated hives we were given a one shot demonstration of how to collect a bee swarm. Word soon spread of what we had done and within one month we were called out five times.
The Helping Hand Trust works to protect the species of the sea and particularly of the Strait of Gibraltar from deliberate abuse and human folly. Over the years we have taken part in many campaigns to promote the importance of the protection of species, to work towards their conservation and to raise funds for these endeavours.
The Helping Hand Trust initially was a tool to make the public aware of dolphin mutilations which occurred in the Bay of Gibraltar in 1994. By then the Artificial Reef was already an established feature in the marine landscape and its creator Eric the contact person for marine related matters in Gibraltar.