Solway Coast and Marine Project Small Grants for Exploring your relationship with the Coast and Marine Environment

What would your Community like to do for your Coastal and Marine Environment? For Nature? For Wellbeing? For Wildlife? For Underwater Marine Life?, for the future?

SCAMP (Solway Coast and Marine Project) is offering grants of up to £1000 to communities to explore the future of their relationship with the Coast and Marine Environment and to explore further develop nature based solutions to help support the aspects of the coastal and marine ecology, and wildlife there.

Have you got a project linked to the Coast and Marine Environment? This could be a wildlife survey, a “Go and See” trip, or you might want to do some further research into saltmarsh restoration or the improvement of habitats for marine life or migratory birds or some coastal habitat creation - then this grant might be for you.

The grants are open to constituted coastal community and environmental organisations, from Gretna around the Rhins of Galloway. If you are interested in applying, please contact Education and Community Engagement Officer, Jan Hogarth: jan.hogarth@dumgal.gov.uk The deadline for expressions of interest by email or phone is Wednesday 10^th January.

The grants aim to help communities take their ideas for improving the region’s marine ecosystems further through surveys, projects or Go and See trips. Its part of the Solway Coast and Marine Project (SCAMP), an ambitious 15-year project led by Dumfries and Galloway Council and the Solway Firth Partnership.

The SCAMP community grants are being funded through the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) and will support the work about how private sector investment might be secured to fund the restoration of coastal and marine habitats, such as seagrass, saltmarsh, coastal woodlands and native oyster beds.

Chair of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Economy and Resources Committee, Councillor Ian Carruthers said: “Dumfries and Galloway has over 200 miles of coastline and our coastal communities are best placed to utilise these grants and identify projects can make a real difference. I encourage groups to get in touch and see what’s on offer.”

Vice Chair of Economy and Resources Committee, Councillor David Inglis said: “We are very fortunate to live in a region which has such beautiful coastlines, but we need to do all we can to restore and protect them and make them sustainable for the future. Please get in touch if you have an idea but are in need of the funding to bring it to fruition.”

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