Investment Ready Nature Scotland (IRNS) Grant Scheme Launches
NatureScot recognised that public and philanthropic funding alone would not be sufficient to restore nature in Scotland and that private sector finance would be needed to close the nature restoration funding gap over the next 10 years.
In August 2022 the Investment Ready Nature Scotland (IRNS) Grant Scheme was launched to provide technical assistance grants to help project developers get support from professional advisors to develop their project, address barriers to investment and present an attractive case for potential investors, and build capability to attract financial investment into natural environment projects.
The scheme awarded 7 projects exploring various interventions such as a model to reduce annual costs of urban flood management, credits and net gain for temperate rainforest restoration, and valuing natural capital benefits of forest to bog restoration.