The Scottish government has today (Friday, February 17) announced that grants of up to £240,000 will be offered to environmental organisations, community groups, landowners and farmers to help grow their nature projects.
The total of £1.8 million in funding aims to attract investment in projects that can “restore and improve the natural environment”, the government said.
The Scottish government and NatureScot are working in partnership with the National Lottery Heritage Fund for the support programme, which is supported by the Green Finance Institute.
NatureScot is offering grants of up to £120,000 through the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) and applicants to FIRNS are also encouraged to apply for co-funding through project grants of up to £120,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The nature projects that can benefit from the funding include, but are not limited to:
- Woodland creation;
- Marine enhancement;
- Peatland restoration.
Minister for environment and land reform, Mairi McAllan, said the Scottish government has already increased public investment in nature restoration, referring to the Nature Restoration Fund.
“But public investment can’t do it alone. The finance gap for nature in Scotland for the next decade has been estimated to be £20 billion – that’s why we are working to find ways to bridge this finance gap through leveraging responsible private finance,” she said.
“The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland programme will enable swifter, easier and scaled up development of nature-based investable projects across the country.
“It has the potential to grow natural capital markets that reach across rural, urban, terrestrial and marine settings, and to support a wide variety of natural assets and ecosystem services.”
Nature in crisis
NatureScot’s director of green economy, Robbie Kernahan, said Scotland’s nature “is in crisis”, with its habitats and ecosystems being unable to benefit public wellbeing if its not valued and invested in.
“The new Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland is a vital opportunity to stimulate that investment and will help us halt nature loss – we must grasp it with both hands,” he said.
Heritage fund director for Scotland, Caroline Clark, said thanked the National Lottery players for the money that was raised by them that will now support the programme that will ensure “more of Scotland’s natural capital can be unlocked for the benefit of the environment and communities”.
“FIRNS offers an exciting opportunity to explore ways of diversifying income for Scotland’s nature sector and building skills, capacity and resilience for the communities and organisations who are caring for the future of our natural world in a time of immense change,” she said.
