The Neighbourhood Ecosystem Fund seeks to inspire, encourage, and enable communities to explore and develop ambitious ecosystem restoration projects locally. It also seeks to raise awareness about the importance of local ecosystem restoration and address barriers faced by community-led efforts.

About this Fund

The Neighbourhood Ecosystem Fund supports community groups in Scotland to develop local ecosystem restoration projects. 

This Fund focuses on the development stages of undertaking ecosystem restoration (the design, planning and preparation for ecosystem restoration).

You can apply to the Neighbourhood Ecosystem Fund at any time through our simple two-stage application process. This approach helps us focus on projects that are a strong fit, while reducing the time and effort needed to complete a full application.

Who can apply

• To apply for this funding, you must be a not-for-profit community-led organisation based in a specific place in Scotland.
• Your organisation must have an income of less than £200,000 in the last year and its own bank account.
• This Fund seeks to support grassroots community groups who may find it difficult to access funding for ecosystem restoration.

What kind of projects we fund

Your project must focus on one or more of these themes:

• Connecting nature corridors: linking areas of habitat or patches of greenspaces to support so wildlife can move and thrive.  
• Habitat and species restoration: creating or improving the physical environment for the benefit of biodiversity, including restoring unused and derelict land or farmland.  
• Freshwater and wetland restoration: improving rivers, ponds and wetlands to support wildlife and healthy ecosystems, including planning work such as pond creation or river restoration.
• Coastal and marine: improving Scotland’s coasts and seas to support nature and increase its resilience to environmental change.
• Control of invasive non-native species: identifying and managing non-native plants or animals that harm local wildlife, including early-stage planning for their control.
• Urban nature: creating and connecting natural spaces in towns and cities to support wildlife, such as pollinator-friendly habitats.

This fund is open on a rolling basis.