£1.275 Million for Nature Restoration in Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park

The funding, provided via The Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (NRF), marks a significant increase for 2025 and represents a welcome commitment to the long-term, sustainable funding required to urgently tackle the joint nature and climate crisis. 

The projects receiving funding represent the ambition, commitment and innovative practice required to deliver meaningful, positive change for people and nature in the National Park. 

Dominic Hall, Future Nature Development Manager at Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority, said: “Since 2022, the Nature Restoration Fund has had a significant positive impact across the National Park in tackling the joint nature and climate crisis by supporting practical, on-the-ground action for habitats and species that restore nature and improve biodiversity. 

“A range of organisations and individuals, from large conservation charities to small tenant farmers, have accessed nearly £2 million in NRF funding to date, unlocking action to protect, sustainably manage and restore nature and contributing towards our ambitious National Park Partnership Plan vision, in which both nature and people thrive. This is essential, meaningful work that wouldn’t have been possible without the Nature Restoration Fund and the dedication and expertise of our partners and communities across the National Park.” 

Projects receiving NRF funding this year cover a range of activities, from large-scale nature restoration to community-led conservation, including: 

• Wildlife monitoring and conservation: Baseline ecological surveys (birds, vegetation, bryophytes, lichens), lamprey and eagle monitoring, mink control, and deer management to support biodiversity recovery. 

• Woodland creation and management: Woodland planting and restoration, native woodland restocking, alternative woodland creation trials, and large-scale removal of invasive non-native species (INNS). 

• Species recovery projects: Habitat improvement for water voles, pearl-bordered fritillary butterflies and freshwater pearl mussels.  

• Infrastructure and equipment: Provision of mobile deer larder trailers to improve deer carcass storage and processing capacity to support local sustainable herbivore management and venison production.  

• Community and local projects: Support for local woodland planting, farm improvement plans, and small grant schemes fostering nature restoration and skills at local level. 

• Survey and baseline data gathering: Biodiversity, topographical and habitat surveys to inform and continue future restoration projects.  

• Helping people and nature:  Creating natural corridors along waterways, strengthening riverbanks, restoring ponds, and removing old deer fencing to help wildlife move more easily, support healthier landscapes, and reduce flood risk for local communities. 

Climate Action Secretary Gillian Martin said: “Protecting Scotland’s natural environment is vital to addressing biodiversity loss, nature restoration and climate change. The projects receiving this additional funding will, of course, benefit local areas and wildlife by restoring the environment and supporting green jobs and skills development, but they will also help us in the global fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. 

“Our £65 million Nature Restoration Fund has funded nearly 800 projects, including planting over 300,000 trees and restoring over 1,800 hectares of urban greenspace in towns and cities, unlocking at least £7.1 million in match funding and in-kind contributions. I look forward to seeing the results of this latest work to restore ecosystems, maintain forest health, strengthen waterways and preserve this unique landscape both for current and future generations.” 

Euan Palmer, Project Development Officer, Strathfillan Community Development Trust said: “Via the Wild Strathfillan landscape nature restoration initiative, NRF funding has provided Strathfillan Community Development Trust with the required funding and support needed to develop our woodland road network, which will allow for the removal of the remaining non-native conifer trees from the woodland. The proposed re-structuring will result in the woodland having an extensive and continuous area of natural pinewood, a small but important local contribution towards national targets.  

“Delivering this project has been the long-standing aim of this community woodland project and is only possible now, through the significant funding and support received from the NRF. In delivering this project, we will take a further step towards returning healthy levels of biodiversity to the area and ensuring the long-term resilience of this fantastic community space.” 

Hamish Thomson, Estate Manager, Glen Finglas said: “As a charity the Woodland Trust relies on the support of our membership, but funding like the NRF enables us to do more to address the climate and biodiversity crises. The NRF funding this year is enabling us to continue to increase tree cover, this time in the form new hedgerows and field trees. This will create fantastic wildlife habitat in some of our grazed fields, as well as benefiting the livestock with shelter and shade.  

“We have planted a lot of trees in the past 30 years, but now the old deer fences have served their purpose and need to be removed before they become a hazard to wildlife. This funding is enabling us to remove several km of upland fencing on difficult terrain, opening up the landscape again and allowing the new woodlands to become part of the wider wood pasture landscape – an intimate mosaic of trees and open habitats – which needs low levels of grazing to maintain the diversity.”  

Amy Fergusson, Head of Science & Monitoring, Forth Rivers Trust said: “Through NRF funding, Forth Rivers Trust has been able to help boost the numbers of Freshwater Pearl Mussels living in the River Teith. Our earlier monitoring work, also supported by the National Park, confirmed that these mussels are successfully reproducing on their own. In 2025, we gave them further assistance with part of their breeding cycle, giving this population the best possible chance to thrive. 

“This work is crucial for monitoring how well the mussel population is doing and helping protect them from external pressures. Scotland’s wildlife is facing what experts call a “triple crisis” – the combined pressures of climate change, nature loss, and pollution. 

“Projects like this one which focus on species in serious trouble, like Freshwater Pearl Mussels, which are listed as ‘critically endangered’ by international conservation experts – are vital for stopping nature’s decline. These mussels, which are a keystone species, play a vital role in keeping our rivers healthy, which benefits wildlife, climate, and people now, and for generations to come.”  

The National Park Authority has distributed £1.8 million from the Nature Restoration Fund in total since 2022. As a result, lasting positive nature and landscape restoration has been achieved across a range of projects, including woodland and montane scrub regeneration, invasive non-native species (INNS) removal and management, no-fence cattle collars for conservation grazing, the creation of a tree nursery, stock fencing for sensitive grassland areas, and wildflower meadow creation. 

Limited Nature Restoration Fund funding is still available for this year and we’re also keen to hear ideas for nature restoration projects within Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park for next year. If you’re a land manager, community organisation, charity or trust with nature restoration plans or ideas, contact the National Park Authority team at FutureNature@lochlomond-trossachs.org or register your interest online.