Nature Networks Fund (round six)

Awarding grants from £250,000 to £1million, this fund aims to strengthen the resilience of Wales’ network of protected land, freshwater and marine sites and build organisations’ capacity to accelerate nature’s recovery and engage communities.

Provided by:

The National Lottery Heritage Fund

Funder website:

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/

Maximum value:

£1,000,000.00

Objective of fund:

We’re delivering the Nature Networks Fund on behalf of the Welsh Government, in partnership with Natural Resources Wales.

The aim of the Nature Networks Fund is to improve the resilience of Wales’ network of protected land, freshwater and marine sites. It is a key element of the delivery of the Welsh Government’s wider Nature Networks Programme, supporting its nature recovery targets such as ‘30by30’. 

Who can apply

The scheme is open to all organisations working with natural heritage in Wales. You must demonstrate that you are aware of and have, or will be working towards obtaining, the right permissions, licences and consents to undertake activity on the protected site network or surrounding areas. The area you are improving must be in Wales, but you/your organisation can be based anywhere in the UK.

Partnerships

We strongly encourage you to work with other people to develop and carry out your project.

A partner is another organisation or third-party body that is integral to the delivery of your project.

Partners are not subcontractors. They will take on an active role in the project and will be involved in the project. They will help to report on the project, attend regular partnership meetings and support project evaluation.

If you plan to work with any other organisations to carry out a significant proportion of your project you must formalise your relationship with a partnership agreement.

Working on private land

Many designated habitats and species occur on land that is owned by private individuals or for-profit organisations. Projects can deliver works or activities on private land so long as any public benefit clearly outweighs any potential private gain and provided subsidy control rules are not breached.

For example, we could fund the restoration of hedgerows or create farm ponds, provided they do not add financial value to the land or convey any significant indirect financial benefit that could breach subsidy control rules.

When working on private land, we understand there may be limits to public access. We do, however, encourage public access whenever practical. We also accept that physical access may not always be appropriate or desirable for habitat conservation reasons. If improved access is possible, you may also wish to apply for funding for new infrastructure, for example paths or hides, that can help accommodate increased public access.

Works can take place on land owned by a government department or arm’s length body provided they do not financially benefit from any investment. If an environmental charity or partnership were to undertake work on such land, then it can only be for works that would not be covered by any statutory responsibility.

Restrictions

Ineligible costs

You may not include costs for:

• ongoing maintenance or running costs beyond the duration of the project

• acquisition of land or buildings

• construction of new, large scale buildings (eg: visitor centres)

• recoverable VAT

• costs for any activity that has taken place before a grant is awarded

Eligible Expenditure

What costs can you apply for?

For round six of the Nature Networks Fund, we are looking to fund projects with a focus on capital delivery.

Projects should include a majority of capital funding and should focus on capital works. You can include revenue costs to support delivery of these works.

Projects which put a greater emphasis on revenue activity must clearly justify the need for this approach to meet the outcomes of the fund.

It is important that you identify in your application which of your project costs are capital and which are revenue.

Capital costs

The following are examples of capital costs and is not an exhaustive list.

• the purchase of items associated with land management activities, such as trees, hedge plants, fencing and capital works items required to deliver the outcomes

• general costs incurred in installing the capital works, which include contractor costs for labour and use of equipment

• the purchase of machinery and equipment up to the market value of the asset

• the purchase, design and installation of interpretation panels, including translation costs

• the acquisition or development of computer software and acquisitions of patents, licenses, copyrights and trademarks

• consultant fees, other technical design costs, site surveys and professional fees such as ecological surveying

• Planning application fees and costs. Fees incurred for statutory permissions, licences and consents are eligible, provided they are essential for the delivery of the capital project and are incurred after the grant is awarded.

• contingency funding for additional capital costs (we recommend approximately 10% contingency)

• inflation funding to allow for cost increases in future years of project delivery

• Revenue costs

• staff time

• full cost recovery or core organisational costs towards project delivery (voluntary sector organisations only)

• activity costs (events, refreshments, room hire, etc)

• evaluation

• project planning (feasibility studies, landowner/community consultation, governance reviews, consultancy advice on green finance)

• training and apprenticeships costs

• translation costs

• contingency funding for additional revenue costs (we recommend approximately 10% contingency)

• inflation funding to allow for staff cost increases in future years of project delivery 

How to apply

Please note: Do not proceed straight to an application. You must first submit an Expression of Interest so we can provide you with early feedback on your project proposal. You may then be invited to submit a full application.

We ask all applicants for a grant between £250,000 and £1million to complete a short Expression of Interest. Please visit our Expression of Interest page for more information on how to complete your form.

You must submit your Expression of Interest by the deadline of 12noon on 5 August 2026.

We will use the information you provide to decide whether or not to invite you to submit a full application. An invitation to apply does not guarantee a grant from us in the future, but does indicate that we see potential in your initial proposals.

We aim to respond to your Expression of Interest within 20 working days. If your Expression of Interest is successful, you must submit your full application by 12noon on 5 November 2026.

Useful Links

https://www.heritagefund.org.uk/funding/nature-networks-fund-round-six