A NEW wave of climate action has been launched thanks to £1 million in funding for projects from Orkney to the Scottish Borders.
The number of grants awarded has been described as a “significant milestone” for the charity Rewilding Britain. It is hoped the funding will act as a catalyst for large-scale projects which will prove rewilding is essential for helping meet crucial nature and climate change targets.
With a strong emphasis on coastal recovery and shoreline resilience, some of the funding has been directed to communities working with nature to support marine diversity and tackle rising environmental threats.
This includes the Growing Sanday Land & Sea project, led by the Sanday Development Trust. A community-driven project, it aims to address the urgent threat of coastal erosion on the Orkney island of Sanday.
With much of Sanday lying just a few metres above sea level and dune losses of up to 37 metres already recorded in some locations, the project is shifting away from reactive interventions towards restoring natural systems.
By revitalising kelp forests, saltmarshes and dune systems, the initiative aims to build a self-sustaining coastal defence for the island’s 500 inhabitants and protect them from storms and coastal erosion.
“Through the Growing Sanday Land & Sea project, we are working to turn a challenge from nature into an opportunity,” said Kieron Brogan-Wadley, community development and operations manager at Growing Sanday Land & Sea.
“By restoring our dunes, saltmarshes, kelp forests and wider coastal habitats, we hope to make Sanday a living example of what an island community can achieve.
“With Rewilding Britain’s support, our ambition is to establish Sanday as a centre of excellence in nature-based coastal resilience, sharing what we learn for the benefit of other island and coastal communities.”
Other projects supported in this funding round include habitat restoration at the Dalnacardoch Estate in the Cairngorms National Park, which aims to revive degraded peatlands, woodlands and freshwater systems.
The estate is suffering extensive ecological degradation due to centuries of intensive land use. Central to the restoration vision is the understanding that successful rewilding must also deliver for people. The funding will support the creation of a Community Benefit Plan, ensuring that restoration efforts generate social, cultural and economic value. By prioritising community involvement, the project aims to become a leading example of how conservation and local needs can work hand-in-hand.
Funding will also support the addition of an ecologist to the team at the Tarras Valley Nature Reserve, site of the largest community buy-out in the South of Scotland and one of the largest community-led ecological restoration projects of its kind in the UK.
Its long-term vision includes restoring native forests, rewetting peatlands, re-naturalising rivers and introducing regenerative grazing to create diverse habitats. This funding is aimed at strengthening the project’s scientific capacity and enabling deeper community engagement. By building knowledge and involving local people, the initiative hopes to ensure that ecological restoration is both effective and rooted in community participation.
Rebecca Wrigley, Rewilding Britain’s CEO said: “The growing demand for funding shows the rapid rise of rewilding across Britain. Communities are moving beyond reactive, short-term interventions and instead working with nature to address rising environmental challenges. These are exactly the kinds of initiatives that the Rewilding Innovation Fund aims to support.”
She said the £1m total of grants awarded was a “significant milestone” for the rapidly growing rewilding movement in the UK. Up to £15,000 is awarded by Rewilding Britain to multiple rewilding projects in spring and autumn of each year.
