Green fund distributes £3m to enhance coasts
An initiative which has distributed almost £3 million to transform the health of Scotland’s coasts and seas has opened its first privately-funded grant round.
The Scottish Marine Environmental Enhancement Fund (SMEEF) is Scotland’s only major green finance initiative, with funding from the public and private sector, focussed on restoring the marine and coastal environment.
This winter, the world’s focus is on improving nature and the climate, with the COP27 on climate change taking place and new global biodiversity targets being agreed at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Canada (COP15) in December.
Alongside the 2023 publication of the new Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, this is a pivotal moment for Scotland to take ambitious action against the nature and climate emergencies.
Since SMEEF launched in May, funding has been granted to a number of projects, including removing invasive species on the islands of the Forth, establishing an innovative floating garden in the Clyde and restoring seagrass in Loch Craignish and Orkney. The fund is once again open for grant applications, this time for project development work including baseline surveys and feasibility studies. Projects can apply for grants of up to £25,000, with the provision for one exceptional award of up to £100,000.
SMEEF was established by NatureScot, the Scottish Government and Crown Estate Scotland, with seed funding from the offshore wind energy sector to support projects that will help ensure Scottish coasts and seas are healthy, productive and rich in nature.
Environment minister Mairi McAllan said: ‘Scotland’s seas and coasts are home to a diverse range of species and are crucial natural assets for our communities and for our way of life as a nation.
‘It is critical we work together to do everything we can to protect and enhance them.’
For more information, to make a donation or a grant inquiry visit www.smeef.scot.