Grants for improving the condition of protected sites such as SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) have been made available to individuals and organisations in Wales.
The fund is being administered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh government and in partnership with Natural Resources Wales and offers funding of between £30,000 and £1 million.
Round Two is currently open for applications until 12pm on 19th October 2022, for a share of between £30,000 and £250,000.
The main aim of the Nature Networks Fund is to improve the condition and resilience of Wales’ network of protected land and marine sites to enable them to function better as nature networks.
Nature networks are vital, resilient areas where habitats and species can thrive and expand.
Activities applied for must deliver direct benefits to the protected site network now or in the future. This can include:
- improvements directly on a site or on surrounding areas that will improve the condition of features and connectivity of sites
- improvements to accessibility of a site, or supporting organisations to reach under-served communities
Supporting organisations or individuals who are (or will be in the future) responsible for sites. This could include planning, staffing, training, apprenticeships, green financing, good governance, etc.
The funds will also support:
- active involvement of communities in and around protected sites
- capacity building, including: financial resilience, community engagement, training and apprenticeship programmes and inclusion work.
For more information & application forms: https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/nature-networks-fund-round-two
Further Reading: https://www.fwi.co.uk/business/payments-schemes/grants/wales-offers-nature-grants-of-up-to-1m-on-protected-sites
