54 projects receive funding to tackle biodiversity loss in Scotland

54 projects have received a share of £5m from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund. 

Among the successful recipients is RSPB Scotland who have been granted £180,000 for rainforest restoration work by removing rhododendrons in the Atlantic rainforest of the Morvern peninsula.

In South Ayrshire, Forestry and Land Scotland have been granted £30,000 to enhance Black Grouse habitat on Craig Dhu.

£80,000 has also been awarded to the St Andrews Links Trust to support their West Sands dune restoration programme. This collaborative and community-focused project will use ‘building with nature’ principles to raise the level of the dunes from 3 metres to 6 metres above sea level.

The Nature Restoration Fund will aim to support a range of urban, rural, marine and coastal focused projects to address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. The £10m fund was launched in July this year and has now been extended to a total of at least £65m over the next five years.

Biodiversity Minister Lorna Slater said: ‘Too much of Scotland’s natural environment is degraded after years of over-exploitation, but this Government is committed to restoring nature and our wildlife.

‘The Nature Restoration Fund will play a big role in delivering these aspirations, and the projects we are funding today are just the beginning. The Fund kick starts a new approach, supporting longer-term, larger, landscape-scale projects across Scotland – on land and at sea – that address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Over this parliament we will invest at least £65 million through the fund, delivering real change that people and nature will benefit from across the whole country.’

NatureScot Chief Executive Francesca Osowska added: ‘COP26 in Glasgow has driven home the urgency of the situation we are all facing. But there is hope. By restoring nature, protecting and enhancing habitats and safeguarding marine life we can look forward to a nature-positive future.

‘Scotland is taking action now to meet the huge challenges and pressures that nature is facing and it is projects like these that will make the difference and set us on the road to recovery.

‘Climate change needs nature-based solutions, not only to help us reach net zero by 2045 but to create a healthier, more resilient Scotland.’