Eleven environmental projects have been awarded funding from the Strategy for Nature Fund and £9,000 is available for student bursaries.
£31,000 has been awarded from the Strategy for Nature Fund, covering a range of projects including monitoring marine mammals, enhancement of school grounds for nature, beach cleaning, adult nature education and support for restoration work at Fort Field.
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 who are 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 bursary is being relaunched as there were no applications at the end of 2025. The new deadline for applications is Sunday 1st March.
The Strategy for Nature 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. The applicants’ projects also needed to address one or more of the threats to our natural environment as reported in the recently published State of Nature 2024 report; these threats include invasive species, pollution, lack of land management, climate change and gaps in knowledge and understanding.
This is the third year that the Nature Commission has worked in partnership with Agriculture, Countryside and Land Management Services (ACLMS) to administer the Strategy for Nature Fund.
Angela Salmon, Head of Operations and Education at the Nature Commission, said: ‘‘It’s always exciting to receive applications for such a wide variety of environmental projects and provide funding for these projects to succeed. We are also relaunching the bursary where £9,000 will be divided between three students. We hope students take up the opportunity to carry our research in Guernsey and/or Herm.’’
Julia Henney, Senior Natural Environment Officer said: “We have received another excellent set of applications for the Strategy for Nature Fund this year, and we
are very pleased to be able to provide support for a fantastic range of community and charitable projects. The work of these projects is essential to help deliver the Strategy for Nature’s aims of learning more about our environment, enhancing biodiversity and engaging with the local community. We are also very keen to support on island research, so would encourage any students interested in undertaking research in Guernsey or Herm to consider applying for the bursary.’’
Pictured: Award recipients, Guernsey Conservation Volunteers, and their project to remove sour figs.
