£7.6m boost to transform Scotland’s nature

£7.6m boost to transform Scotland’s nature - NatureScot

Projects across the country to expand forests, restore habitats, protect threatened species and improve our resilience to climate change have been awarded a share of £7.6m from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund.

landscape view with pine trees in the foreground and mountains behind — Scotland's rainforest at Loch Arkaig, one of the large scale projects receiving funding. (image: Woodland Trust Scotland Media Library)

In the latest round of funding awards, NatureScot has approved 31 projects to receive funding as part of a national drive to transform nature in Scotland. This round is focussed on supporting large-scale projects with grants in excess of £250,000, including multi-year projects that run up to 2026.

For the first time, it also includes development funding to help big restoration projects plan and research their project before groundworks begin, addressing a key capacity gap in the sector.

One of the large-scale projects being awarded funding is the Arkaig Landscape Restoration Partnership: three neighbouring landowners Woodland Trust Scotland, Arkaig Community Forest, and Achnacarry Estate have been awarded almost £1.25 million over three years to restore a large area of Scotland’s rainforest at Loch Arkaig, near Spean Bridge. Through collaborative working, neighbouring landowners will create significant areas of transitional mountain woodlands, restore formerly planted peatland edge woodland, reintroduce key ancient woodland species, manage deer, supply locally sourced native trees and seeds, and contribute to the eradication of invasive non-native species including rhododendron and gaultheria across the Arkaig catchment.

Since its launch in July 2021, the Nature Restoration Fund has awarded around £17 million to 127 projects across Scotland through its Helping Nature and Transforming Nature funding streams.

The Nature Restoration Fund is also currently accepting expressions of interest for smaller projects seeking funding from £25,000 to £250,000 under its ‘Helping Nature’ funding stream. Projects have until noon on Monday 6 March 2023 to submit an expression of interest to NRF@nature.scot. More information is on NatureScot’s website.