Projects to tackle biodiversity loss and climate change to share £5m

Projects to restore Scotland’s rainforest and enhance black grouse habitat are among initiatives sharing £5 million of funding.

The money will be shared between 54 projects all over Scotland to restore nature, safeguard wildlife and tackle the causes of climate change.

Among the first recipients of grants from the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund, administered by Naturescot, are projects to create robust dune flood defences in St Andrews.

RSPB Scotland will receive £180,000 to remove rhododendron in the Morvern peninsula Atlantic rainforest, while £10,700 will go to improve habitats as part of the Cairngorms Connect project, and £160,000 will support restoration of vital wetlands in Orkney.

In South Ayrshire,

Forestry and Land Scotland has been granted £30,000 to enhance black grouse habitat on Craig Dhu.

Habitat loss and overgrazing has resulted in long-term declines in black grouse populations across the UK, and it is hoped this work will help their recovery.

The St Andrews Links Trust will receive £80,000 to support its West Sands dune restoration programme.

The project will use “building with nature” principles to raise the level of the dunes from three metres to six metres above sea level, to help create a robust, healthy dune system as an effective flood defence.

Naturescot chief executive Francesca Osowska said: “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 naturepositive 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.”

Francesca Osowska.