Nature Restoration Fund: interim evaluation

Annex A NRF summary

Restoring Nature in Scotland

Key Impacts of the Nature Restoration Fund 2021–2024

The Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) is an unprecedented commitment from the Scottish Government to invest £65 million in nature recovery over a five-year period (2021–2026). It is a key mechanism to deliver the actions on the ground that are necessary to achieve the Outcomes of the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy, and its Vision to be Nature Positive: halting biodiversity loss by 2030 and restoring and regenerating biodiversity by 2045. The Scottish Government therefore considered it vital to assess the impact of the NRF, examining its role in achieving nature recovery across Scotland from 2021 to 2024. This interim evaluation had the following key objectives:

• Analyse the outputs and contributions of projects funded under the NRF
• Provide a number of project case studies
• Identify key challenges, lessons learned, and opportunities
• Draw conclusions on the NRF’s impact between 2021–2024

Funding

The NRF is administered through two funding strands: the Competitive Fund strand, which is administered by NatureScot and involves projects going through a competitive application process for funding; and the Edinburgh Process strand, where funding is allocated directly to local authorities to deliver projects.

Find more info on the Nature Restoration Fund at the NatureScot website here:

Nature Restoration Fund

The evaluation analysed project funding data from NatureScot and Scottish Government as well as data from interviews with project leads, local authority representatives and NatureScot topic specialists. The evaluation noted how some figures are based on incomplete data and should be treated with caution and as estimates.

Outputs and Outcomes of NRF

As of March 2024, the NRF has invested £35.5 million, supporting nearly 800 projects to promote nature recovery in over 309,000 hectares, driving large scale action across Scotland.

Applications and funding

Competitive Fund strand

452 applications received with 222 applications funded, equating to £16.2 million.

Edinburgh Process

Local governments received £19.3 million, delivering at least 575 projects.

Diversity of organisations and landowners engaging

Competitive Fund strand

Proportion of successful applicants receiving NatureScot funding for the first time increased over the 3 years.

Edinburgh Process strand

74% of projects included partnerships and/or community groups, often involving collaborations in delivery.

Area where project activities have been undertaken

Competitive Fund strand

114,000 ha (including large scale invasive species removal projects); 7,800 ha (excluding large scale invasive species removal projects).

Edinburgh Process strand

Over 195,106 ha (including large scale invasive species removal projects).

Extent of woodland and hedgerow restoration

Competitive Fund strand

Over 194,600 trees planted; 68.3 km of hedgerows created.

Edinburgh Process strand

134,213 trees planted.

Action on habitat for pollinators

Competitive Fund strand

More than 282 ha of habitat for pollinators restored or created.

Edinburgh Process strand

149 projects including meadow creation, relaxed mowing, wildflower plugs, removal of invasive species, thinning of woodlands and solitary bee nests.

Habitat creation for priority species

Competitive Fund strand

22 different targeted actions to protect priority species.

Edinburgh Process strand

Not measured for Edinburgh Process.

Natural flood management measures

Competitive Fund strand

314 ha of wetlands created or restored; 300 ponds and scrapes created; 4.4 km of watercourses re-meandered; 5.1 km of backwater reconnected.

Edinburgh Process strand

55 projects including river and wetland reconnection, pond creation and woody debris installation.

Freshwater and riparian habitat restoration

Competitive Fund strand

Over 13,000 trees planted along watercourses; 19 km of aquatic and riparian habitat restored; 7 man-made obstructions removed from watercourses.

Edinburgh Process strand

71 projects including river and wetland reconnection.

Urban habitat connectivity and nature-based solutions for communities

Competitive Fund strand

1,818 ha of urban greenspace restored in towns and cities.

Edinburgh Process strand

145 projects including Nature Networks, connecting urban and rural greenspaces, removal of physical barriers, greening active travel routes.

Managing invasive species in catchments

Competitive Fund strand

103,436 ha protected and restored from invasive species; 216 km of linear habitat protected from invasive species.

Edinburgh Process strand

70 projects which included herbicide spraying, stump removal, natural regeneration.

Enhancing and restoring marine habitats and environments

Competitive Fund strand

23 mini buoys deployed; 1 seagrass nursery established; 40,000 transplants produced to support saltmarsh restoration.

Edinburgh Process strand

57 projects including native vegetation planting, invasive species control and seagrass and oyster habitat surveys.

Nature Networks

The NRF directly allocated an additional £5 million to local authorities specifically to expand work on Nature Networks in 2023/24. Across 2021–2024, 21 local authorities reported that they had identified opportunity areas for creating or enhancing Nature Networks and 16 started to develop projects targeting these areas.

Case study insights

Interviews with project leads, local authority representatives, and NatureScot topic leads provided critical qualitative evidence on the NRF’s impact:

• The fund has enabled projects that would not have been possible through other funding sources, filling a critical gap in Scotland’s nature conservation funding landscape.
• Challenges projects faced included the weather, difficulties sourcing equipment or materials (particularly during the Covid pandemic), administrative burdens (including short timeframes and securing planning permissions), and difficulties in accessing skilled contractors.
• Several project leads reflected that, while nature restoration work was new to the contractors who worked on their project, this experience upskilled them, actively building the skill base across Scotland.

Key challenges and opportunities

Data and Reporting

The Competitive Fund and Edinburgh Process are administered separately, leading to differences in data collection and reporting. The introduction of a unified reporting framework could help standardise reporting both between strands and between different projects.

Strengthening Nature Networks

Nature Networks are a priority for Scottish biodiversity policy and current NRF metrics could be improved to better capture impacts on ecological connectivity. The Nature Network Toolbox provided to local authorities will help target restoration actions in the Edinburgh Process. Making a suitable mapping tool and relevant datasets more accessible to the public would enable actions under the Competitive Fund to be better targeted.

Future evaluations

Comparing and collating data from different nature restoration projects and initiatives is inherently complex, given variations in project type, geographical location, scale, and cost. Future evaluations should consider cost variations, geographic challenges, and project complexity when assessing data across different funding streams.

Key Impacts and Conclusions

• Delivering £35 million of funding and nearly 800 projects across 2021–2024, the interim evaluation concluded that the NRF remains a vital mechanism for facilitating biodiversity recovery, enhancing ecosystem resilience and improving environmental sustainability.
• The NRF supports national policies and targets associated with nature and a number of wider Scottish Government priorities, including helping Scotland mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• The evaluation indicated that the Competitive Strand of the NRF has had an increasingly diverse pool of applicants year on year. There is, however, evidence that there may be some barriers to applying for funding, with some groups under-represented (e.g. community groups) and some groups having a lower success rate (e.g. partnerships/consortiums).
• The NRF supported multi-disciplinary collaboration, bringing together landowners, NGOs, and researchers. New capital investment and innovative approaches to nature restoration were also supported.
• The Competitive Fund’s Development Phase Projects have been crucial in helping applicants form partnerships and scale up their efforts.
• Between 2021–2024, the NRF unlocked at least £7.1 million in match funding and in-kind contributions, demonstrating its role in leveraging additional investment and expertise for nature recovery. The NRF should continue to focus on opportunities for securing blended (public and private) finance and match funding.
• With funding and projects continuing across 2025–2026, the full impact of NRF funding (including longer term benefits for nature recovery) will continue to unfold over the coming years.

This summary is based on findings from the Interim Evaluation of the Nature Restoration Fund 2025 report, prepared by SAC Consulting and published by the Scottish Government. Graphic designer and illustrator: Tom Holmes.