Current status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 16 September 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the Nature Restoration Fund's record so far, including the (a) total amount of funding awarded, (b) number of projects funded, broken down by (i) terrestrial and (ii) marine, (c) number of beneficiary organisations and (d) number of jobs created or posts funded by the Fund.
(a) To date, just over £51 Million has been awarded through the Nature Restoration Fund (NRF). This includes just over £32 Million awarded through the NRF competitive strand, just over £1.3 Million through NRF-funded Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) projects, and £18 Million provided directly to local authorities and National Parks, via the NRF Edinburgh Process strand, as of the end of the 2023-24 financial year.
(b) 220 projects have been offered competitive funding to date. This includes 192 projects through the NRF competitive strand and 28 NRF-funded SMEEF projects. (i) 162 were terrestrial or freshwater projects (ii) 30 were coastal and marine projects (plus the 28 NRF-funded SMEEF projects).
Additionally, local authorities and National Parks have supported further projects directly through their allocation from the NRF Edinburgh Process strand.
(c) 119 separate applicants have been offered funding from the NRF competitive strand or NRF-funded SMEEF projects. That does not include the 32 local authorities and 2 National Parks who have also benefitted from direct NRF funding, and will in turn have used their allocation to support projects led by other organisations (e.g. community groups, local charities).
(d) We do not hold information on the number of jobs created or posts funded by the NRF.