For the fifth year running, individuals, organisations and students are invited to apply for financial support from Guernsey’s Strategy for Nature Fund to support environmental initiatives.
The initiatives must further the goals and objectives of the Strategy for Nature and help to address the drivers of change described in the State of Nature 2024 report.
Last year, fourteen local environmental projects and four students benefitted from this funding. These projects included monitoring marine mammals, beach cleans, restoration of dune grassland, enhancement of school grounds for nature, and researching plant-pollinator networks, amongst other projects.
The fund was established in recognition that the Strategy for Nature is not simply a government document; it is a framework that requires support and action from the whole community to achieve its goals and objectives.
Since the publication of the State of Nature 2024 report, applicants need to offer projects that help to address some of the drivers of change in the natural environment as listed in this report. These drivers of change include pollution, climate change and invasive non-native species, amongst others.
A total of £40,000 is donated through the fund in the form of grants, with £9,000 of that total dedicated specifically to a bursary for students completing graduate or post graduate degrees in a relevant subject with a commitment to carry out data collection for their research project on-island.
The fund is managed and administered in partnership between the Nature Commission and Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services (ACLMS).
Julia Henney, Senior Natural Environment Officer, said: “Since its launch in 2021, the Strategy for Nature Fund has gone from strength to strength, with more applications received each year and every year. The fund has been able to support a wide range of projects which have helped to address some of the drivers of biodiversity loss and support local species and habitats. We are excited to see what projects we might be able to support this year.”
Angela Salmon, Nature Commission, said: “The Nature Commission is pleased to be launching the Strategy for Nature Fund once again. We are looking forward to seeing the variety of applications from individuals, organisations and students and we read each application with great interest.
“This year it is possible for businesses to boost the Strategy for Nature Fund through our Nature Opportunities for Businesses initiative. Making a contribution to this Fund will enable support to be provided to even more local environmental projects.”
The deadline for all applications is Sunday 26th October 2025.
More information about the fund, application forms and how to apply is available here.
Projects awarded funding last year:
| Project | Organisation, charity or student awarded |
| Dune Grassland Restoration | National Trust of Guernsey |
| Public Beach Cleans | Clean Earth Trust |
| Outreach Support | The Pollinator Project |
| Marine mammal acoustic and visual monitoring strategy | DolFin Project, La Société |
| Pesticide surveys | The Pollinator Project |
| Bat Tunnel – follow-up project | Bat Section, La Société |
| Rewilding and Nature Management | Les Varendes High School |
| Enhancement of Outdoor Spaces | La Mare de Carteret Primary School |
| Outdoor improvements for nature | Amherst Primary School |
| Replacement Barn Owl boxes | Ornithology Section, La Societe |
| Sour Fig removal | Guernsey Conservation Volunteers |
| Equipment and resources | Education Officers, La Société |
| Explore the Bailiwick Environment | Course leader |
| Ongoing costs of the conservation herd | La Société Conservation Herd |
| Moo vs Mow – A Decade of Biodiversity & Carbon Gains from Conservation Grazing | PhD studentUniversity of Exeter |
| A baseline characterisation of marine species diversity and trophic level assessment within Guernsey’s waters | Masters studentUniversity of Gibraltar |
| Investigate the fine-scale distribution, habitat associations, and potential impacts of climate change on shrew species in the Channel Islands, with a focus on understanding their island biogeography. | PhD studentUniversity of Exeter |
| Comparing plant-pollinator networks within and across island systems. | Masters studentUniversity of Bristo |
