Description
Grants are available for projects in Scotland that restore wildlife and habitats on land and sea and address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.Current StatusOpen for ApplicationsMaximum value:Discretionary
Objectives of Fund
The funding is aimed at projects that support actions that help nature recover across Scotland.
The purpose of this fund is to support on the ground action that will address the biodiversity and climate crises by aiding nature restoration.
In this round of funding, applications are invited for ambitious, transformative projects of single or multi-year duration and with a funding requirement in excess of £250,000.
The priorities for this round are:
- Habitat and species restoration: Management for enhancement and connectivity
- Freshwater restoration, including restoration of natural flows in rural catchments
- Coastal and marine initiatives which promote restoration, recovery, enhancement or resilience
- Control of invasive non-native species (INNS) impacting on nature.
- Enhancing and connecting nature across, and between, towns and cities.
Value Notes
The Fund has been expanded with a further £55 million over the next four years (2022-2026).
Grants of over £250,000 are available for Transforming Nature projects.
A separate development option under the Transforming Nature stream of the Nature Restoration Fund is also available for applicants seeking to fund a development phase for projects of over £250,000.
Match Funding Restrictions
All applications will be required to confirm cash and/or in-kind contributions to the project. There is a maximum intervention rate of 90% of project costs. Projects which are able to bring significantly more than 10% match funding to their application will be preferred.
Nature Scot will, at their discretion, cover up to 100% of cash costs for projects that will make a significant contribution to the Priorities for Action and can demonstrate a minimum of 10% in-kind support.
Who Can Apply
Applications will be accepted from public, private, and voluntary sector organisations as well as private individuals.
The following can apply:
- Registered charities and trusts.
- Constituted community groups.
- Private individuals and companies – where public benefit will be demonstrated.
- Partnerships and organisations working collaboratively with others.
Where applications are received from partnerships or organisations working collaboratively, a lead applicant must be identified.
Public Bodies cannot be the principal beneficiary of a grant from NRF but can be a coordinator of, or funding contributor to, a wider partnership bid.
Groups cannot apply for the development and delivery phase simultaneously.
Restrictions
The following are not eligible for funding:
- Ongoing maintenance of any site or the implementation of previously agreed (land/site) management plan actions.
- Activities which are a condition of planning or statutory obligations.
- Replacement of existing infrastructure where there is no biodiversity enhancement.
- Projects that do not seek to transform land/sites to an improved, sustainable, nature-rich state.
- Organisational and staff capacity building (although project-specific training costs are eligible).
- Development of management or strategic plans.
- Projects primarily focused on people and engagement outcomes.
- Surveys, monitoring, data analysis or research where collation of data is the primary purpose (surveys as part of project monitoring and evaluation are eligible).
- Delivery of partner organisation and stakeholder statutory obligations for biodiversity, habitats and species. (Projects on land/sites owned by statutory agencies such as NatureScot and Forestry and Land Scotland can be funded, provided the above is adhered to, the statutory agency is not the lead applicant and that public benefit is delivered.)
- Annual management payments to farmers.
- Single use plastics, for example for tree protection. Biodegradable or re-usable materials should be sourced. In exceptional circumstances, where there is no suitable alternative (such as in flood prone locations) plastic protection may be given approval, provided it is removed and reused or recycled afterwards.
- Contingency costs.
- Staff time to report on progress and claim NRF funds.
The following are not eligible for development phase funding:
- Employing a bid writer or writing any funding applications.
- Developing and establishing project governance structures including Partnership Agreements, Memorandum of Understanding, NRF funds transfer (where a partnership or collaboration).
- Building organisational and staffing capacity to undertake large, complex projects and manage external funds in organisations and groups.
- On the ground works for habitats and species that are ready for implementation.
Eligible Expenditure
All projects must demonstrate how the project will support nature recovery and address climate change mitigation and adaption. In this round of funding there is an increased desire to encourage partnership projects that work at scale and facilitate nature networks to improve habitat connectivity.
Projects need to address at least one of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity (IPBES) drivers of biodiversity loss:
- Land and sea-use change.
- Direct exploitation of organisms.
- Climate change and its impacts.
- Pollution.
- Invasive non-native species (INNS)
Projects should address one or more of the Transforming Nature themes:
- Habitat and species restoration – management for enhancement and connectivity.
- Freshwater restoration, including restoring natural flows in rural catchments.
- Coastal and marine initiatives which promote restoration, recovery, enhancement or resilience.
- Control of invasive non-native species impacting on nature (INNS).
- Urban: Enhancing and connecting nature across, and between, towns and cities.
Examples of projects that could be funded include:
- Habitats and species:
- Enhancing habitat linkages and habitat creation that increases connectivity at landscape scale, for example rewilding previously farmed land.
- Strategic habitat creation to enhance green networks.
- Dune management to enhance resilience to climate change impacts or enhance biodiversity, such as through grazing or trampling control or removal of invasive species.
- Freshwater:
- Natural flood management solutions, such as river based engineering works that reconnect rivers to rural floodplains and increase riparian habitat diversity.
- Groundworks which create new habitat such as wetlands, by re-meandering/re-profiling/de-culverting stretches of previously straightened rural rivers/streams.
- In–stream or river works such as installing woody debris and banking to increase habitats and reduce erosion, removing barriers to fish passage and other man made obstacles that negatively impact habitats and flood events.
- Coastal and marine:
- Infrastructure that helps to support longer-term restoration efforts for Priority Marine Features.
- Changes to existing practices/approaches that help realise the benefits of, and make a positive contribution towards, the conservation objectives for Marine Protected Areas.
- Invasive, non-native species:
- Deliver a programme of INNS control across multiple landowners that includes training of volunteers in treatment and control, enabling a long term programme of volunteer maintenance to be established beyond the life of the NRF project.
- Urban environments:
- Creation of wildlife corridors through urban spaces, especially where they create connectivity with existing urban wild spaces.
- Restoration of urban wild spaces which have not previously been managed for biodiversity.
Eligible costs include:
- Contractor costs, for example to undertake detailed design or groundworks.
- Capital equipment, resources and materials (eg culverts, bridges, sluice, fencing, plants) that will deliver on the ground nature restoration as part of the overall project.
- Costs associated with training and skills development such as training providers, and PPE.
- Staff costs inclusive of salary, National Insurance and Employer Pension Contributions.
- Full cost recovery where there are staff costs, organisational and overhead costs; to cover office accommodation, equipment and running costs and wider staff support (eg finance, IT).
- Travel and subsistence to cover staff and any volunteers supporting project activity for organisations.
- Irrecoverable VAT relating to project costs and activities.
- Lead applicant costs: Staff time and on-costs where applications are received from a partnership or organisations working collaboratively (but not costs associated with establishing any additional partnership governance). Any additional levy/management fee will be ineligible.
All projects must be completed by later than 31 March 2026.
Development phase funding can be used for activities such as:
- Feasibility studies (based on early discussion of potential projects).
- Detailed design surveys to inform on the ground implementation.
- Data gathering such as habitat and protected species surveys – field and desk based.
- Engagement with stakeholders, delivery partners and landowners to secure involvement and commitments.
- Consulting agencies eg SEPA, Forest and Land Scotland, NatureScot.
- Exploring blended finance options and other funding opportunities for delivery phase.
- Securing permissions and licenses.
- Development of project plans including integrated habitat management, delivery, management, monitoring and evaluation.
- Development of monitoring and maintenance plans post project.
- Seeking quotes and engaging suppliers/contractors – availability and costs.
- Monitoring and reporting of development phase.
- Site/land investigation and feasibility activity such as soil sampling, habitat or ground mapping to inform vegetation management or tree planting.
Eligible costs include:
- Contractor costs, eg to undertake detailed design or feasibility studies.
- Staff costs inclusive of salary, National Insurance and Employer Pension Contributions.
- Where there are staff costs, organisational and overhead costs (Full Cost Recovery) to cover office accommodation, equipment and running costs and wider staff support (eg finance, IT) are eligible.
- Travel and subsistence to cover staff and any volunteers supporting development phase activity for organisations.
- Irrecoverable VAT.
- Lead applicant costs – staff time and on-costs where development phase applications are received from a partnership or organisations working collaboratively (but not costs associated with establishing any additional partnership governance). Any additional levy/management fee will be ineligible
- Equipment and materials required during the development phase where these are not available through other means eg hire or match funding/in-kind contribution.
Development phase projects must be completed by no later than 31 May 2023.
How To Apply
Applications are currently being accepted for Transforming Nature grants over £250,000.
There is a two stage application process:
- Groups must first submit an expression of interest form. These are assessed on a first come first served basis. The deadline to submit an EOI for applications over £250,000 is 2 September 2022.
- Successful applicants will then be invited to submit a full application. The deadline to submit a full application is 7 October 2022.
The next application call for the £25,000 to £250,000 Helping Nature stream is expected to be in late autumn 2022.
All relevant documents are available in the Resources section of the NatureScot website.