Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray: final evaluation report

Findhorn Watershed Initiative

Introduction

The Findhorn Watershed Initiative (FWI) is a nature restoration project spanning the course of the River Findhorn, from the Monadhliath Mountains to the Moray Firth. It focuses on restoring riparian woodlands, wetlands, and peatlands to enhance biodiversity, sequester carbon, and strengthen climate resilience.

The project also supports green job creation, skills development, and community involvement—laying the foundation for long-term ecological and economic sustainability.

Just Transition Fund contribution

The Findhorn Watershed Initiative received funding from the Just Transition Fund across 2022–2024 to expand restoration activities, build internal delivery capacity, and strengthen community engagement. JTF support helped unlock additional public and private funding, established long-term land agreements, and supported the creation of new green jobs in rural Moray.

Outcomes and strategic impact

FWI is advancing carbon capture and emissions reduction through large-scale habitat restoration. In the past year, it developed 19 woodland restoration plans with landowners and began restoring 112.5 hectares of riparian woodland—up from 40 hectares the previous year. These plantings are expected to sequester around 5,064 tCO₂e over their lifetime, while also improving biodiversity and water quality.

Plans for coastal seagrass, saltmarsh, and peatland restoration are also underway, guided by a full-catchment natural capital audit to identify high-impact interventions. The project is also building climate resilience through nature-based solutions. Riparian planting helps to cool rising river temperatures and support wild salmon habitats, while wetland and peatland restoration enhances the land’s natural flood management capacity.

Just Transition outcomes

Findhorn Watershed Initiative aligns with multiple Just Transition outcomes, including:

• Jobs, skills, and economic opportunities: creating 5.45 FTE green jobs; training 44 people in conservation and mapping skills, supporting estate staff to shift into conservation roles, and planning green skills pathways with youth partners.
• Business and economy: prioritising local jobs and subcontracting, working with landowners to develop a Nature Finance model to share profits to ensure communities benefit from revenues, leveraging £1.2M+ in additional funding from NatureScot, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Chivas Brothers, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Moray Climate Action Network
• Communities and place: engaging 1,190+ people through 60 local events and cultural projects that link people to place; working across age groups through workshops and citizen science and fostering stronger local environmental identity.
• Decarbonisation and efficiencies: supporting low-carbon land use through riparian restoration, deer management, and ecological surveying with the local community.
• Adaptation and resilience: supporting watershed restoration to increase local climate resilience and biodiversity, securing targeted climate resilience funding for equipment and activities and building community knowledge.

Lessons learned and future growth

While FWI has made progress, it has also faced significant challenges. One of the most complex issues during 2023-24 was a grant change request process, which created a period of financial uncertainty between August 2023 and January 2024.

During this time, the project was unable to access new funding while waiting for approval of proposed changes to its budget and activities. This meant that it had to pause or scale back planned work despite having ongoing costs and staff in place. The seasonal nature of restoration works also clashed with fixed public funding cycles—making it difficult to plan activities like woodland planting within funding timelines.

Conclusion

The Findhorn Watershed Initiative shows how nature restoration can support economic development, community empowerment, and climate resilience. Alongside job creation and upskilling, it reconnects people with their landscape, blends cultural heritage with conservation, and promotes fair distribution of environmental benefits. Through long-term land agreements and innovative funding, FWI is building a lasting, community-rooted model for restoration.