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Tuesday, April 29

Investing in Scotland’s Natural Resources

JamieBy 2 Views4 Mins Read Uncategorised

Funding to Help Councils Restore Biodiversity

Local authorities will directly receive £10 million to support new, or to enhance existing, approaches to restoring biodiversity through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF).

More than £55 million has been awarded via the NRF since its launch in 2021 for projects delivering habitat and species restoration, coastal and marine initiatives and control of invasive non-native species.

Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, and is essential for sustaining the ecosystems that provide us with food, fuel, health, wealth, and other vital services. We know there is an urgent need to act decisively to address the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change together.

Just like climate change, the loss of species and degradation of our natural environment is an existential threat to humanity. We have a vision for a future where Scotland’s natural environment is restored and supports thriving communities and wildlife alike.

The Nature Restoration Fund is a vital mechanism to support projects across Scotland on land and at sea – that address the twin crises and restore our natural environment and supports a whole-of society approach to achieving these goals.

ACTING MINISTER FOR CLIMATE ACTION, DR ALASDAIR ALLAN

The Edinburgh Process strand of the NRF provides funding direct to Local Authorities to deliver nature restoration projects in their communities, sitting alongside the NRF strand administered by NatureScot. This latest allocation will bring the total allocated to Local Authorities through the Edinburgh Process strand to £32 million, since 2021.

The NRF aims to help local authorities and their partners protect and restore Scotland’s biodiversity on land and sea.

The Fund has five strategic themes that will be delivered across all the funding streams:

  • 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
  • Urban: Enhancing and connecting nature across, and between, towns and cities

The Edinburgh Process strand seeks to deliver the five strategic priorities through sub-national delivery. This approach can deliver multiple benefits like supporting health and well-being, green jobs, air and water quality improvements in addition to supporting nature recovery.

The Nature Restoration Fund is helping environmental groups, communities and local authorities across Scotland take vital action for Scotland’s nature now.

It’s crucial that we do everything we can to respond to the twin crises of nature loss and climate change. With this kind of support, we can make a positive and lasting difference that will put our land, seas and wildlife back on the road to recovery. This is not only good for nature, but good for people too as we all benefit from a healthy and thriving natural world.

NATURESCOT CHAIR COLIN GALBRAITH

The Scottish Government’s Strategic Framework for biodiversity, including the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 and Delivery Plan to 2030, published in November 2024, sets out our ambition and plans to halt the loss of nature by 2030 and make significant progress to restoring nature by 2045.

Background

Global biodiversity framework: Edinburgh Process – information – gov.scot

Scottish Biodiversity Strategy to 2045 – gov.scot

Biodiversity: delivery plan 2024 to 2030 – gov.scot

Scottish Government Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) | NatureScot

I’m Graeme’s Parliamentary Assistant based at Holyrood, but I support his constituency work as well. Having been Caseworker to an Aberdeenshire MP some years prior, joining Graeme's team in 2019 was a return to this line of work from a role in fundraising.

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