£1m for projects to improve our natural environment
7 Nov 2011 09:49 AM
Projects to restore and protect our natural environment across Wales are receiving grants worth a total of £1m from the Ecosystem Resilience, Diversity and Compliance Fund.
They include:
- £250,000 for the Countryside Council for Wales to safeguard aquaculture and tourism at Holyhead marina by removing invasive sea squirts from underwater structures.
- £100,000 for the RSPB to improve and deliver sustainable management of sites across Anglesey that are home to bird species such as the chough.
- £60,000 for British Waterways to enhance nature reserves, protect aquatic plants and improve visitor access on the Montgomeryshire canal.
- £41,000 for Wildlife Trusts Wales, on behalf of wider partnership, for the sustainable management of community woodlands in Newport, Powys and Monmouth.
- £40,000 for the North Wales Wildlife Trust and Flintshire County Council’s North East Wales Orchard Recovery Project that increases the number of successfully managed orchards in Flintshire.
Announcing the grants, John Griffiths, Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development, said:
“I am pleased that we can support such a wide range of projects from the new £1m fund I announced at the Wales Biodiversity Partnership Conference in September. The projects have been chosen because they offer benefits to the people, economy and wildlife of Wales.
“These projects from across Wales embody the approach we want to take under the new Natural Environment Framework we are developing.”
Projects are expected to complete within this financial year.
The projects were assessed by the Chairs of the Wales Biodiversity Partnership’s Ecosystem Expert Groups. This has ensured that funding was allocated to projects covering a wide a spectrum of habitats, species and sites. Over £22million of project proposals were received against this £1 million fund, which demonstrates the scope for delivering ecosystem improvements through the Natural Environment Framework.
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