Springwatch star launches £10 million biodiversity fund
WREN's new £10 million fund to help protect and revive some of the UK's most threatened wildlife habitats was launched by celebrity naturalist Chris Packham in July.
Nine projects run by the RSPB, The Wildlife Trusts and Butterfly Conservation have received a share of £1.6 million from our new Biodiversity Action Fund (BAF).
Chris Packham said: "This is a fabulous scheme which puts substantial and much-needed sums of real money into real conservation and targets it at intelligent projects which seek to protect and enhance the UK's natural biodiversity - superb!"
From the Welsh valleys to Mersey marshlands, Norfolk heaths and coastline, the first tranche of our £10 million biodiversity funding will see habitats for rare birds, beetles and butterflies among those restored or maintained.
WREN has committed £10 million over the next five years to biodiversity projects. To be eligible, projects had to demonstrate how they would work towards national, regional or local Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) targets.
Baroness Barbara Young, chair of WREN's funding panel for the Biodiversity Action Fund, said; "This plan is a unique collaboration between the government and the voluntary conservation movement and has been chronically underfunded over the years. WREN's fund is contributing to the restoration and creation of some of the most threatened habitats listed in the UK's BAP."
Peter Cox, managing director of WREN added; "We're looking forward to seeing all nine projects take shape and to seeing the positive impact they'll have, helping to conserve natural spaces and species for generations to come."
Funding was restricted to projects located within 10 miles of a landfill site. Applications for year two of the scheme are now being invited. Deadline for applications is 29 January 2010. Visit the Biodiversity Action Fund page for more information.
