Grant Directories

A total of £1 million is available to support community groups and schools in deprived areas of the UK to protect and restore nature in their local area. The Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund is a crowdfunding initiative that will give £2 for every £1 raised by each project. A wide range of nature projects can be supported. This can include restoring and protecting local habitats, promoting pro-environmental behaviours at the community level and connecting local communities to nature and each other. Applications can be made at any time until all funding has been allocated.

The International Tree Foundation (ITF) was founded in Kenya in 1924 as ‘Watu wa Miti’ (People of the Trees), by Richard St Barbe Baker and 50 volunteers. ITF’s mission is to plant, protect and promote trees in partnership with local communities. The UK Community Tree Planting Programme aims to support community projects that will: Create and conserve indigenous trees and woodlands, forests, habitats and associated biodiversity; Foster community engagement in tree planting to promote reforestation and to increase awareness of the importance of trees and forests to environmental and human well-being; Encourage social cohesion and inclusion.

Rewilding Britain's Challenge Fund offers £100,000 yearly for rewilding projects in England, Scotland and Wales. The fund supports initiatives aimed at restoring natural woodland and habitats and promoting the benefits of rewilding to communities and biodiversity. The fund supports innovative projects that have potential for upscaling rewilding efforts.

The Swire Charitable Trust makes grants to charities supporting some of the UK’s most vulnerable people to overcome barriers and realise their potential, and to charities who are protecting the  environment and heritage.

Sea Changers is a UK charity, through the Innovation Fund Sea Changers provides up to £30,000 of funding to support ideas that are new and/or experimental solutions in the field of marine conservation. This includes any innovation that may: Address the root causes of marine conservation threats and challenges in the UK; Prevent or reduce negative impacts on UK coastal and marine environments and/or species;  Add to the body of knowledge about marine conservation threats and challenges in the UK and ways to overcome them.

Trees for Climate is a multi-million pound woodland creation programme. Trees for Climate is delivered by the 13 Community Forests across England, who have extensive experience in supporting landowners to establish and manage woodlands. Trees for Climate grant funding can cover the costs of woodland creation, fencing, paths and other infrastructure, and ongoing maintenance for up to 15 years. Design, planning and planting support from professional woodland advisors is also available.

The National Lottery Community Fund - The Platinum Jubilee Fund provides funding for projects that create a greater legacy for our places and spaces, and that support new opportunities, activities and build better relationships with one another, across generations and with the natural world. The three areas of focus are: Across Generations - Strengthening relationships between generations and creating a legacy for future generations; Community Renewal - Supporting new opportunities for people to develop skills and experiences in their local community, as well as opportunities to bring people together in new ways, and in new or different places and spaces; Our Shared Natural World - Growing our care and action locally for the natural world.

The Temporary Infrastructure Forestry Innovation Fund is part of the Governments Nature for Climate Fund.  The aim of the fund is to facilitate temporary vehicular access to improve neglected, under managed or degraded woodland.  This can include, buts is not limited to, transportable, reusable, roading, transportable bridges to facilitate access across water courses and log chutes for use on steep terrain.

The Urban Tree Challenge Fund (UTCF) was first developed in response to the Government’s commitment to provide £10 million for planting both large and small trees in and around England’s towns and cities. The fund is part of the Government’s Nature for Climate Fund and aims to support the planting of 44,000 large ‘standard’ trees over a two-year period. Urban and peri-urban planting will require public access unless there is a strong rationale against this, such as planting on school grounds.  The funding can be used both for planting and maintaining trees.

England Woodland Creation Offer is one of a suite of Forestry Commission initiatives to support woodland creation and tree planting across England. Landowners, land managers and public bodies can apply to the England Woodland Creation Offer for support to create new woodland, including through natural colonisation, on areas as small as 1 hectare. The grant will cover standard capital costs for tree planting (up to a per hectare cap), as well as rewarding farmers and landowners for providing public and/or wider environmental benefits.

The HDH Wills 1965 Charitable Trust was originally created by the late Sir David Wills MBE. The Trust is an independent grant-making charity that supports general, environmental and wildlife charities. Through the Martin Wills Wildlife Maintenance grant programme the charity provides grants of between £1,000 and £2,000 to support the conservation and maintenance for the benefit of the public of the natural environment and its indigenous woodland flora and fauna with particular reference to the conservation and maintenance of the character and amenity of rural areas.

Sea Changers is a UK charity that aims to provide grants of up to £500 to UK based, marine conservation charities and not for profit organisations. The projects funded will achieve one or more of the following objectives: To address the root causes of marine conservation threats and challenges in the UK; To prevent or reduce negative impacts on UK coastal and marine environments and / or species; To add to the body of knowledge about marine conservation threats and challenges in the UK. Sea-Changers is particularly interested in supporting grassroots projects which galvanise community action and in projects which increase the number of people taking action for marine conservation.  

Sea Changers is a UK charity that aims to provide grants of between £500 and £2,500 to UK based, marine conservation charities and not for profit organisations. The projects funded will achieve one or more of the following objectives: To address the root causes of marine conservation threats and challenges in the UK; To prevent or reduce negative impacts on UK coastal and marine environments and / or species; To add to the body of knowledge about marine conservation threats and challenges in the UK. Sea-Changers is particularly interested in supporting grassroots projects which galvanise community action and in projects which increase the number of people taking action for marine conservation.  

The John Spedan Lewis Foundation supports UK registered charities with natural history, wildlife conservation, entomology, ornithology and horticulture among their stated charitable aims. The Foundation awards small grants at their bi-annual meetings.

The Lincolnshire Community Foundation exists to benefit disadvantaged people and communities by making grants to support relevant charitable, voluntary and community organisations. Through the Laceby Solar Farm Community Fund, the Foundation provides grants of up to £5,000 to support volunteer led not-for-profit projects that develop energy efficiency or environmental improvements, improve local community facilities, and improve the lives of people living in Laceby, Irby, Riby, Barnoldby le Beck, Bradley, Aylesby and Beelsby. Applications for up to £10,000 towards large capital projects may be considered.

The Lincolnshire Community Foundation exists to benefit disadvantaged people and communities by making grants to support relevant charitable, voluntary and community organisations. Through the Bicker Wind Farm Trust, the Foundation provides grants of between £250 and £5,000 for practical or educational projects that either contribute to conservation, energy efficiency or environmental improvements within a ten mile radius of Bicker Fen in the Borough of Boston.

The Cambridgeshire Community Foundation exists to benefit disadvantaged communities by making grants to support relevant charitable or voluntary organisations, which make a difference to their local communities. Through the Amey Community Fund the foundation provides grants for the provision, maintenance or improvement of a public park or other general public amenity; the conservation of a specific species or a specific habitat where it naturally occurs OR the repair, maintenance or restoration of a Place of Worship or a Place of Architectural Importance.

The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust was established in for the advancement of the arts, health and medical welfare and environmental protection or improvement.   Through the Environment programme the Trust aims to protect the countryside, species and habitats as well as well as the UKs heritage and rural crafts and skills.

The Ernest Cook Trust is an educational charity who aim to help the nation better understand the environment. The Outdoor Learning Officer Grant programme will provide funding of up to £15,000 per year (estimated as 50% of a full time salary) to charities and non-profit organisations that want to employ learning officers/outdoor educators who can: encourage others to create deep lasting connections with the natural environment; Engage people to enjoy the outdoors and connect with nature; Educate communities; Enable society to understand the damaging effects of activities that harm the environment; Extend participation to hard to reach groups; Embed an understanding of environmental issues and promote sustainable behaviour.

Grants of up to £200,000 are available from the National Grid to help reduce the visual impact of high voltage power lines in the 30 Areas of Outstanding National Beauty (AONB’s) and the National Parks.  The funding can be used to reducing the visual impact at public viewpoints through localised tree planting; gapping up and/or changes in management of hedgerows or other field boundaries; changes to trails, cyclepaths, footpaths, riding routes or other access routes;  and enhancing landscape around pylons, transmission lines and substations through enhance biodiversity by improved management of existing habitats or by creation or restoration of habitats.

Under this scheme, Biffa look to award grants to projects that provide or improve biodiversity, community spaces, cultural facilities, and places for outdoor recreation. The type of activities that could be funded could be to improve community buildings; site-based projects to protect and enhance a species or habitat; improving an open space such as a park, play area or woodland that needs transforming to benefit local people of all ages.  Between £10,000 and £75,000 is available for projects of less than £200,000. Ten percent of the award needs to be third party sourced.

The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation is a charitable foundation based in Portugal and the UK with a special interest in supporting those who are most disadvantaged; in particular with an emphasis on encouraging cross-border exchanges of lessons and experiences.  Grants of between £10,000 and £30,000 are available to not for profit organisations to support a small number of innovative projects that fit well with the Foundations strategic priorities which for 2014 - 2019 are: Transitions in later life: Participatory/socially-engaged performing arts: Influencing the marine environment and protection of the oceans.  The Open Fund is currently suspended.

The People's Trust for Endangered Species UK Mammals grant provides funding for voluntary conservation organisations, scientific researchers, individuals and consortia for work that relates to the conservation of mammals in the British Isles and Eire. Individual awards of £10,000 to £20,000 can be provided for a range of work including scientific research, practical habitat management, reintroduction and monitoring programmes and educational projects. Key research themes are: Monitoring mammals - better methods for estimating distribution and abundance; Habitats for mammals - assessing habitat suitability and connectivity, improving and restoring habitats; Human impacts and mitigation - climate change, roads and other infrastructure, toxic chemicals and pollution, habitat fragmentation, modification and loss.

The PTES worldwide grants programme offers conservation insight grants of £3,000 to £10,000 per year for up to two years to projects focussing on endangered species. Grants will be awarded to projects that seek to either: Find critical scientific evidence that will faciltiate the conservation of a species; provide the answer to a key conservation question; or undertake the implementation of a key local action resulting in significant, positive impact for an endangered species. Applicants must already be working and established in the UK, overseas UK territory or any country classified by the World Bank as not high income.  Applications for work with bird species are not accepted.

The Chestnut Fund is an independent charity, making grants available to encourage and enable community groups to carry out conservation activities. Groups must be part of the BTCV Community Network to qualify. The grants fall into two categories: Start-up grants - these are for groups who have no money when they are first set up and are available to groups in their first year of existence. The grant will enable them to begin practical work and will cover administrative expenses, e.g. postage, publicity, hire of meeting rooms, telephone bills and/or the first year of BTCV Community Network Membership plus Insurance fees. The maximum grant will be £150, and Support grants - these are for groups who have no money for tools, equipment and training. The maximum grant will be £350. Preference will be given to resources selected from BTCV sources. This grant is available to all BTCV Community Network groups, regardless of how long they have been members.

The Waterloo Foundation is an independent grant making charity that supports initiatives aimed at reducing man-made climate change and increasing the health of the marine environment, both in the UK and worldwide. Their objective is to help mitigate the damaging effects that humans are causing and contribute to a positive change both now and in the future. Under the Environment Fund, The Waterloo Foundation has two main themes: Forests and Marine. In addition to the forest and marine programmes The Waterloo Foundation may occasionally support water and energy projects. 

The Darwin Initiative is a UK government grants programme that aims to promote biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of resources in developing countries and UK overseas territories. The initiative funds projects that help countries rich in biodiversity but poor in financial resources to implement the international biodiversity agreements. Most projects typically try to address threats to biodiversity such as: over-exploitation, invasive species, habitat degradation and loss, climate change mitigation and adaptation and pollution. Projects will include one or more of: building environmental knowledge; capacity building; research; implementing international biodiversity agreements. 

The Foundation is a UK based charity who's main remit is to offer Rufford Small Grants for nature conservation projects in the developing world. The Rufford Small Grants Foundation supports small scale or pilot projects with a nature/biodiversity conservation focus and has a broad scope of interest, as well as the conservation of particular threatened charismatic species, the protection of which is likely to benefit their natural habitat, it is also interested in those often neglected or less well known species. It is also keen to support projects which go beyond a species specific focus to provide habitat protection at a wider scale.

The John Ellerman Foundation's People and Planet funding scheme provides grants to charities that work to promote a healthier environment for both people and nature.  The scheme prioritises projects that enhance ocean health through stronger marine protected areas and on land and in freshwater through sustainable management, habitat restoration, and landscape-scale conservation.  The scheme also aims to address the impact of human activities like climate change and pollution on air, land, and water.