Most NFM projects will require funding for the material and labour required to implement works on the ground. Large scale projects such as river restoration will also require funding for the necessary scoping and pre-works assessments and design and, in some cases, a payment to the landowner for the services provided and costs incurred. There are a number of potential sources of funding for these various components including the Scottish Rural Development Programme, Government agency funding such as peatland action and private funding such as carbon offset schemes. Local Authorities may also fund NFM measures, especially where it helps to deliver NFM actions outlined in their Local Flood Risk Management Plans or other statutory targets. This topic includes information on these potential funding sources, new funding calls or success stories on novel funding sources.
The Engineering with Nature initiative (led by US Army Corps of Engineers) has now published "Engineering with Nature: An Atlas, volume 3". The atlas contains lots of global case studies that are using NbS inspired approaches. 58 projects (including several cases from the UK) are highlighted in this latest version which is available to download via the link below.
We are reaching out to you with an exciting opportunity to contribute to research on River woodland evidence gaps. This survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete (ideally on a laptop or desktop).
The Tweed Forum have published a new guide to riverside tree planting. The guide called "Riparian woodland creation – a guide for practitioners" is available via the link at the bottom of this page. The Practitioners’ Guide to Riparian Woodland Creation is aimed at farmers, landowners, land managers, conservation bodies and other organisations to assist and encourage tree planting at the scale required to make a significant difference. The guide was commissioned and funded by the Fishmongers’ Company’s Fisheries Charitable Trust.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Engineering with Nature initiative has released a new season of podcasts (season 7). Podcasts cover topics such as regenerative land management, policy issues and knowledge exchange. You can also access the previous 6 seasons of podcasts via the link below.
A report has been published on the Hydronation Chair website on "Water Metrics and Standards: Review of current approaches, challenges and issues". The report presents the findings of an initial scoping survey carried out by the Hydronation Chair in late 2022/early 2023 on behalf of the Water Metrics and Standards Working Group, convened by SEPA and NatureScot. The report makes a series of recommendations for next steps for developing water metrics (including those associated with NFM measures).
The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) is a joint initiative between Scottish Government, NatureScot, and the National Lottery Heritage Fund Supporting the development of environmental projects in Scotland. FIRNS aims to value and monetise ecosystem services derived from the restoration of natural capital assets, in a model that will attract and repay investment or support an investment model that can be scaled up and duplicated elsewhere.
The terms restoration and nature-based solutions are both commonly used these days, and sometimes used interchangeably. But are they identical?
The Environment Agency have commissioned Qa Research to research NFM training needs amongst people with a role in NFM in England. The Environment Agency wants to ensure that everyone involved in NFM has the skills, knowledge and expertise they need. Therefore this survey has been constructed to understand where there is a need for training for those who have a role in NFM to inform the development and availability of suitable training.
Peatland ACTION has recently launched a suite of films to help encourage more landowners to get involved in peatland restoration, and promote the value of the work that peatland contractors do to make that happen. The films can be accessed via a dedicated YouTube channel (via link below). There are a series of films which cover topics such as the land managers' view, about peatland contractors and also case study examples.
The Scottish FRM2023 Conference took place in Perth in February this year. The topic of the conference was "Water Resilient Places". It was a 2-day conference which over 200 people attended (both in person and online). There were 59 speakrs and a number of workshops. A theme of one session was on Nature-Based Solutions (inc. NFM). All the slides and videos of the presentations are now available on Sniffer's website (see link below). They have a dedicated Vimeo channel hosting the session recordings.