£6 million for Scotland’s environment - Scottish Government
Additional funding package announced for nature projects.
More than £6 million of additional funding is being invested in nature enhancing projects through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF).
Established in 2021, the £65 million NRF has funded nearly 800 projects helping Scotland's species, woodlands, rivers and seas back on the road to recovery, including planting over 300,000 trees and restoring over 1,800 hectares of urban greenspace in towns and cities.
Evaluation of the NRF shows the scheme unlocked at least £7.1 million in match funding and in-kind contributions for organisations, and described the initiative as ‘instrumental’ in accelerating nature restoration and supporting vulnerable species and habitats.
Recipients include the Cairngorms National Park, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, NatureScot and the Green Action Trust.
The Cairngorms National Park will share £1.2 million between five projects aimed at safeguarding some of the most precious species and habitats there including;
- recovering freshwater pearl mussel populations in the rivers Spey, Dee and South Esk
- identifying changes to make the River Dee more resilient to flooding
- helping boost the capercaillie population, which is on the verge of extinction in Scotland
- improving tree stock for aspen and native montane species
Visiting the Anagach Woods in the Cairngorms National Park, Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action Gillian Martin said: “Protecting Scotland's natural environment is vital to addressing nature loss, climate change and biodiversity. The projects receiving this additional funding will of course benefit local areas and wildlife by restoring the environment and supporting green jobs and skills development but they will also help us in the global fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. I was extremely impressed by the pioneering work that the Cairngorms National Park are doing to restore ecosystems with their innovative wood ant translocation project, which maintains forest health.”