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11/05/2012 - Welsh Government Boosts Funding for Ecosystems

The Welsh Government is allocating £1 million to the Ecosystem Resilience, Diversity and Compliance Fund in an effort to strengthen the country's ecosystems and make the country's natural environment more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Local government, national parks, statutory agencies, universities, non-government organisations, voluntary, private entities groups and other groups with a formal constitution and bank account may apply for the funding which is being delivered through the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and the Wales Biodiversity Partnership.

Organisations will have to hurry, though, as they have less than a month to submit their applications for grants of between £10,000 and £200,000. Match funding is not a requirement as 100% funding is available, but securing funding from other sources will be viewed favourably.

Funding will support projects that run between 16 July 2012 and 8 March 2013 and deliver better outcomes for habitats and species as well as projects aimed at tackling invasive, non native species, such as Japanese Knotweed.

This year's funding builds on the success of last year's Ecosystem Resilience, Diversity and Compliance Fund and it is in line with the ecosystem approach as set out in the "Sustaining a Living Wales" green paper launched for consultation in January 2012.

Environment Minister, John Griffiths, who announced the funding, said:

"Wales' changing climate is putting growing pressure on our environment and is resulting in both increased flood risk and a reduced water supply. Pressure from our modern use of the land is also resulting in poor water and soil quality and is in turn putting more pressure on species and habitats.

"To tackle this we need to make sure we are managing our natural resources as a whole and are consistently seeking to understand how we can get the services we need whilst sustaining a resilient and healthy environment.

"Maintaining healthy ecosystems is actually less expensive than treating problems later on. For example good land management in river catchments can keep water clean and reduce flooding, and well functioning eco systems are much more resilient to climate change and extreme weather events."

Applications must be submitted electronically by 1 June 2012 (5 pm).

An application form and guidelines can be found on the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) website (opens new page).

Source: CCW, 11/05/2012

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