Peatland restoration grant 2025

To reverse habitat loss and improve the condition of Welsh peatlands, we have capital peatland restoration grants of between £10,000-£250,000 available. The total value available for the grant programme is around £700,000. 

The peatland restoration grant will enable individuals and organisations to deliver peatland restoration projects during May 2025 to March 2026.

Programme priorities

All projects will need to address one or more of the National Peatland Action Programme priorities:

• Peatland erosion
• Peatland drainage
• Sustainable management of blanket peats
• Sustainable management of lowland peats
• The restoration of afforested peatlands
• The gradual restoration of our highest carbon emitting peatlands

The peatland must also be in Wales - for any cross-border proposals, we'll consider only the Welsh element.

Grant funded projects will ultimately contribute towards the target of 1800 hectares restoration activity in Wales each year.

Who can apply

• Individuals
• Public sector organisations
• Registered charities
• Universities, other higher education institutions and research institutes
• Third sector organisations
• Private sector organisations

Lead applicants must:

• show evidence of having delivered at least one peatland restoration project in the last decade, or
• provide confirmation of technical support from a partner who has experience of delivering peatland restoration on the ground - and can provide technical support
  
  

How much you can apply for

You can apply for between £10,000 to £250,000 of funding.

You can ask for up to 100% of your project costs.

We'll consider value for money when we make decisions about using public money to deliver our policy.

We'll view match funding favourably. Match funding can include:

• cash contribution
• volunteer time
• staff time

Spending and claiming

Applicants must spend and claim for 100% of the grant value by 31 March 2026. You cannot roll over unspent funds in to the subsequent financial year. 

The final claim date will be 31 March 2026. 

When you can apply

We're accepting applications from 18 December 2024.

You must apply before midnight on 18 March 2025.

We aim to give you a decision on your application by May 2025.

How to apply

You'll need a reference number to start your grant application.

Find out how to prepare and submit your application online.

What you can spend a grant on

You can spend our peatland restoration grant on:

• direct project jobs costs, equipment, contractors and consultants, one-off professional fees directly associated with project related costs
• staff costs related to delivery of capital restoration work
• networking costs to liaise with relevant stakeholders, for example venue hire or mileage
• overheads - we use a flat rate of 15% of direct project staff costs for most projects but will also accept Full Cost Recovery as long as this is fully demonstrated and evidenced. Project staff costs relate to staff that are employed by the applicant and not to contractors

Compensation payments are eligible under this grant funding

We are currently providing guidance for the following context: 

• The area eligible for compensation payments is 5m either side of a blocked ditch on upland blanket bog that’s currently managed for agriculture and is designated as SSSI and/or SAC. 
• This is a one-off payment of £660/ha and should be made in the same financial year that the restoration works are undertaken. These rates are subject to review. 
• If compensation payments are sought for different contexts, there should be justification provided for us to review as part of the grant application process. It is advised that you discuss with us in advance of the formal application process. 
• Payments can only be made for expenditure incurred through a formal agreement between two parties i.e where you’ve had to pay compensation to others. 
  
  

Activities you can include in your application

Your application may include the following activities:

• restoration activities that address one or more NPAP priorities
• access improvements to enable machinery access to site - up to a ceiling value of 15% of total project cost
• site survey and mapping for designing intervention (rather than general monitoring and habitat surveys)
• undertaking land-manager or owner engagement
• scoping and obtaining permissions or consents
• technical design
• costing of restoration design
• development of a tender ready specification
  
  

What you can't spend a grant on

You can't spend a Natural Resources Wales grant on:

• revenue costs (not relating to capital delivery)
• capital restoration that does not deliver the NPAP restoration priorities 
• survey or monitoring not linked to capital restoration works proposed
• clearance of trees or scrub where no other sustainable management action such as changes to hydrology or grazing are also implemented
• purchase of equipment such as GPS collars/fencing/grazing infrastructure without confidence of subsequent use, for example by grazing agreement
• visitor site information panels
• boardwalks
• funding your organisation's core activities
• ongoing management or maintenance works
• work outside Wales
• funding commercial or profit-making activities
• maintenance costs on Public Rights of Way
• schemes where work has been completed or is underway
• personal study or the pursuit of individual academic or professional qualifications
• work within NRW’s statutory remit
• to fund grant programmes
• VAT: the costs should exclude any recoverable VAT
• activity which you currently or will have a duty to discharge through planning conditions
• funding cannot be used towards any mitigation/compensation project for damage to peatlands elsewhere

You cannot receive this funding alongside other Welsh Government funded schemes to achieve the same outcomes, for example the Glastir Habitat Wales sustainable farming scheme. 

What grant recipients will need to provide

For feasibility projects, we will expect grant applicants to:

• be confident their proposed project area is on peat. The Peatland of Wales map should help you with this. If your project area is not currently identified as peat on this map, give detail in your application about the area and why you think this is peatland that needs restoration.
• target hectarage of restoration expected i.e. on trajectory to recovery

For delivery projects, grant recipients should be able to measure and provide:

• target hectarage of restoration delivery expected i.e. on trajectory to recovery
• GIS recording of any peat depth data
• GIS recordings of all interventions (according to NPAP reporting protocols)

Ensure you specify the target hectarage to be restored in the 'project description' part of the application form.

Other permissions or consents

If you need permits, consents or any other type of permission from us, you will need to complete this in addition to this application for funding.  Ensure you build time for this into your grant project plan.

The relevant permissions or consents should be been obtained or applied for in advance of application. If consents not yet obtained there should be a clear plan for securing these in the timescales required.  

How we score applications

Find out how we score competitive peatland restoration grant applications.

Other funding options

If you're interested in peatland restoration but this grant does not meet your needs, contact us at npap@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk