NatureScot is inviting applications for the 3rd round of Biodiversity Challenge Fund (BCF) to encourage applicants with innovative projects that improve biodiversity, and address the impact of climate change, by increasing the resilience of our most at-risk habitats and species and creating large areas of new or restored habitat.

The third round of the Biodiversity Challenge Fund will target transformational change to increase the biodiversity and environmental value of land and sea, maintaining a focus on habitats and species, while simultaneously supporting green skills, training and jobs where that is possible. In doing so, successful projects from this third round of funding will contribute to the green recovery as they emerge from Covid-19 and work towards a nature rich future.

The high-level priorities of this third round of the Biodiversity Challenge Fund (BCF3) continue to align with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) direct drivers of biodiversity loss:

• Land and sea-use change
• Direct exploitation of organisms
• Climate change and its impacts
• Pollution
• Invasive non-native species (INNS)

Climate change makes all factors more significant in impact and in this third round of funding, they are again seeking to support targeted nature-based solutions that help to tackle the climate emergency. All project proposals must demonstrate how the project will help to address climate change and/or its impacts.

Funding Information

NatureScot invites applications for transformational projects that make a minimum BCF funding request of £100k for projects starting from 1 April 2021. Recognising the scale of project required to make a transformational change, there is no upper threshold in this third round of funding. All projects and their activities must be completed and claimed by 31 March 2022.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications are invited from:

• Constituted organisations.
  • Registered charities and trusts.
  • Communities.
• Local authorities and other public sector organisations.
• Private individuals and companies - where public benefit will be demonstrated.
• Partnerships and organisations working collaboratively with others.

For more information, visit NatureScot.