A £2 MILLION funding pot designed to bolster community resilience by harnessing the power of nature is set to be launched in Wales this summer.  

The Resilient Communities Grant Programme will provide up to 100 per cent of funding for projects that enhance green spaces, promote inclusion and provide access to nature in the country's most disadvantaged areas. 

With applications set to open in July, Natural Resource Wales (NRW) is urging schemes to apply that offer any of the following:

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  • Opportunities to promote diversity and inclusion, particularly amongst communities that have less access to quality green spaces.
  • Creative ways to reconnect people with nature and their local environment to improve physical and mental health, confidence, self-esteem and encourage ‘green behaviours’.
  • Promoting health and wellbeing through therapy and nature, particularly interventions that tackle health inequalities.
  • Nature-based solutions that help communities feel safer and secure, for example improving greenspaces blighted by criminal activity.
  • Creating more opportunities to access nature, especially where this need is reflected in future development planning.
  • Opportunities to improving community awareness and understanding of climate risks, empowering communities to be involved in decision-making and taking action to tackle climate change impacts.
  • Ensuring communities feel a sense of connection and empowerment with their natural environment and have an active role over how it is managed and improved.
  • Creating opportunities for education and involvement in citizen science so communities have a better connection and greater understanding of their local environment and the benefits that a healthy environment can bring.

Gareth O’Shea, director of operations for NRW, said: “We have seen people connecting with nature during the Covid-19 pandemic and a greater appreciation of the way in which it underpins our health, our economy and our wider wellbeing.

“There has also been increasing recognition that the climate and nature emergencies are upon us, and its impacts are being felt amongst the parts of society that have contributed least to its acceleration. More needs to be done to mitigate and adapt now." 

The Resilient Communities Grant Programme can provide 100 per cent funding and applications are welcomed for amounts from £10,000 to £250,000. Applications can be made across different places and address multiple themes. 

For further information on NRW’s Resilient Communities Grant Programme, contact grants.enquiries@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk