£10m Fund to Support England’s Natural Environment – Second Round Now Open
Organisations seeking investment for nature projects to tackle climate change, create and restore habitats, or improve water quality are being urged to apply for the second and final round of this programme.
The Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund has been established to fund nature projects in England which tackle climate change, create and restore habitats, or improve water quality.
The scheme aims to stimulate private investment and market based mechanisms that improve and safeguard the natural environment by helping projects become investment ready. The intention is to establish a pipeline of projects for the private sector to invest in, and develop new funding models that can be replicated elsewhere.
From an overall budget of £10 million, grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 are available.
Projects must protect or enhance the domestic natural environment in line with one or more of the Government’s 25 year environment plan goals in the context of the following natural capital asset types:
- Urban or areas of transition from rural to urban land uses (peri-urban).
- Enclosed farmland.
- Mountain, moor and heathland.
- Freshwaters and wetlands.
- Woodland.
- Coastal margins.
- Marine.
- Semi-natural grassland.
All costs must be directly associated with developing the investment readiness proposal to be eligible for funding.
Applications are accepted from not-for-profit organisations in England, including charities, community interest companies and environmental non-governmental organisations. Public bodies such as local councils, national park authorities and academic institutions are also eligible, as are businesses, including sole traders.
The deadline for applications for the second and final round is 3 February 2022.
(This report was the subject of a GRANTfinder Newsflash.)
