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Our funders

Funding for the 2017 – 2023 project was provided by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (£1.59M) and NatureScot (£0.5M) with in-kind funding from project partners and volunteer time (£1.25M). The total project value was £3.34M.

Funding for the 2023 – 2026 project is provided by the Scottish Government’s Nature Restoration Fund (£2.08M), managed by NatureScot, with in-kind funding from project partners and volunteer time (£0.8M).  The total project value is £2.9M.

Our delivery partners

NatureScot is the lead partner of the Initiative, together with ten fishery boards and rivers trusts as delivery partners. Volunteers, local groups, land managers and partner organisations are key local partners, helping to provide a sustainable legacy for the project.

Our partner fishery boards and river trusts have a wealth of experience in catchment management and in controlling invasive non-native species, many undertaking this work for years before the Initiative was formed. The Initiative brings these partners together, supports the establishment of volunteering and training programmes and enables more work to be done in a systematic, coordinated way at landscape scale.

Click the links below to find out more about what is happening in each partnership area and who the key contacts are.

Our academic partner

The University of Aberdeen is our academic partner.  They advise on our American mink control work, where the School of Biological Sciences has done much to support us (and previous projects) using its expertise in dispersal and population dynamics to mitigate the impacts of invasive predators. They have supported our giant hogweed sheep grazing trial and are engaged with us in understanding volunteer motivations for involvement in invasive plant control.

Currently two PhD students from the University of Aberdeen are working with us.