Caring for our natural environment
Caring for our natural environment
Caring for our natural environment
In this programme, we are seeking applications that aim to protect, restore and enhance our natural environment.
The UK’s natural environment continues to face significant pressures, alongside increasing recognition of its importance for wellbeing, community resilience, public health and quality of life. These challenges are complex and interconnected, requiring approaches that consider both environmental outcomes and social context.
This programme recognises that the natural environment is shaped by how we use, value and interact with it. There is a need for work that not only protects and restores the natural environment but also considers how it can be enhanced and made more accessible and meaningful to all communities.
Caring for Our Natural Environment was first launched in 2023. So far, Fellows have explored practical approaches to protecting, restoring and enhancing the UK’s natural environment across a wide range of contexts, including species reintroduction, land use, urban environments, youth engagement, and public services.
This programme will continue to support individuals working closest to these challenges, enabling them to learn from international practice, develop new approaches and share insights that can improve policy, practice and public understanding in the UK. At the heart of the Fellowship is the expectation that this learning is applied to drive change in the UK.
The natural environment underpins the health, wellbeing and resilience of people and places across the UK. However, access to and benefits from the natural environment are not equally shared, and many ecosystems continue to face pressure and decline.
There is a continued need for informed, practice-based work that considers:
- how the natural environment can be protected, restored and enhanced
- how people and communities can better understand, engage with and participate in shaping the natural environment
- how access to the benefits of the natural environment can be made more equitable
- how changes in how we use and value the natural environment will shape future policy and practice
This programme supports projects that seek to protect, restore and enhance the UK’s natural environment. We are particularly interested in approaches that involve communities in shaping decisions about the natural environment, alongside work that explores how relationships with the natural environment are changing over time.
Projects can come from any area of society, but should fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Addressing nature degradation
Developing practical approaches to improving the condition of the natural environment, its causes and effects, including restoration, protection and enhancement of natural systems and landscapes. - Understanding and engaging with the natural environment
Increasing understanding, appreciation and engagement with the natural environment through participatory approaches that involve stakeholders and communities especially those that are underrepresented in this work. - Fair and equitable access to the natural environment
Exploring how access to the benefits of the natural environment can be improved across all communities, reducing barriers and addressing inequalities in access and experience. - Changing how we use and value the natural environment
Examining how evolving patterns of land use, development and societal values affect the natural environment, and exploring approaches that support more sustainable and informed decision-making.
Over the past three years, many applications have proposed visits to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. While your choice of countries will not affect your application, we welcome project proposals that draw on learning and best practice from a wider range of countries.
When developing your application, we encourage you to:
- identify a clearly defined environmental challenge or opportunity
- explain how your project contributes to protecting, restoring or enhancing the natural environment
- consider how people, communities and systems interact with the natural environment
- show how your learning could contribute to change in policy, practice or communities in the UK
We also run a Climate Change programme under our Environment universal theme. You can only apply into one programme, but we recognise that both our Environment-themed programmes are linked, so we welcome applications that straddle both programmes, e.g. nature-based approaches that help communities address the causes and impacts of climate change.
We are looking for people with novel ideas, the passion and potential to make a real difference to their community or professional sector, and we assess on future possibilities not only past achievements. We value both lived and learned experience and prioritise those less likely to receive funding from elsewhere.
We particularly encourage applications from:
- people working in farming, land management, conservation, planning, local government and environmental bodies
- individuals in national parks, statutory bodies and arm’s-length organisations
- community groups, activists and practitioners working on local environmental challenges
- educators, youth workers and outdoor learning professionals
- civil servants and policymakers working on land use, environment and place-based policy
These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.
2026
Can the UK remain a stronghold for wild Atlantic salmon?
How rewilding can help build communities and local economies
How Community Woodlands can benefit rural communities and biodiversity
How to effectively integrate deer management into forestry education and forest management
Towards Recovery at Scale: Enabling Policy and Regulation for Estuarine and Coastal Restoration
Greener Cities - Accelerating Urban Nature for People and Wildlife
From the Andes to the Atlantic: Restoring Britain’s Lost Rainforests
How neglected urban spaces can support sport and nature, to tackle climate, health and social gaps
Making volunteering for bird conservation in the UK more accessible and engaging for autistic women
How to raise private funding for nature restoration
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2025
Islamic climate philanthropy and rainforest restoration
Helping puffins to help people understand marine conservation
Surfing can Shape Ocean Conservation, if we Challenge the Barriers
How indigenous respect for nature inspired granting of legal rights
Exploring how mountain cheesemaking could aid upland habitat restoration
Supporting UK seaweed farming to bring environmental and social benefit
From Tradition to Transformation: Farming Wisdom for Ecological Resilience
Environmental care at the heart of a flourishing education system
Making Rights of Nature a Reality in the UK
Philanthropy’s role in funding the fair transition to sustainable agriculture
Researching the mechanisms of Circular Economy 'Materials Hubs'
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2024
Enabling partnerships for wetland restoration at scale
Improving the sustainability of forensic consumables
Social housing gardens: green infrastructure for biodiversity, health & place-making
Diversifying participation in nature and the outdoors: insights from Japan
Forest bathing for teenagers with neurodiversity
Investigating the reintroduction of Britain's lost frog species
Future parks - exploring best practice in financial sustainability
Improving Greenspaces in Urban Areas
Rooting Change: Mainstreaming Forest Gardens
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2023
European woodmeadow management systems
Alternative Proteins - Adoption, Acceptance and Trust
Protecting Nature through Biosecurity & Invasive Species Control
Conservation translocations: Moving species in a changing climate
Planting trees vs natural regeneration for landscape recovery and rewilding
Rights of Nature: a viable approach for protecting UK ecosystems?
Drones & UK Wildfire - Lessons learnt from Canada
Cultural engagements for nature connectedness
Bringing resilience back to our food system through diversity
Mending fashion's relationship with nature through plant fibres and dyes
Speaking Nature's Voices into Human Legal Systems: A Practical Guide
Closing the net on bycatch
Invasive Plant Eradication: Best Practice, Added Value, Sustainability for Nature
Prefer a Word document?
Download the full programme briefThe UK’s natural environment continues to face significant pressures, alongside increasing recognition of its importance for wellbeing, community resilience, public health and quality of life. These challenges are complex and interconnected, requiring approaches that consider both environmental outcomes and social context.
This programme recognises that the natural environment is shaped by how we use, value and interact with it. There is a need for work that not only protects and restores the natural environment but also considers how it can be enhanced and made more accessible and meaningful to all communities.
Caring for Our Natural Environment was first launched in 2023. So far, Fellows have explored practical approaches to protecting, restoring and enhancing the UK’s natural environment across a wide range of contexts, including species reintroduction, land use, urban environments, youth engagement, and public services.
This programme will continue to support individuals working closest to these challenges, enabling them to learn from international practice, develop new approaches and share insights that can improve policy, practice and public understanding in the UK. At the heart of the Fellowship is the expectation that this learning is applied to drive change in the UK.
The natural environment underpins the health, wellbeing and resilience of people and places across the UK. However, access to and benefits from the natural environment are not equally shared, and many ecosystems continue to face pressure and decline.
There is a continued need for informed, practice-based work that considers:
- how the natural environment can be protected, restored and enhanced
- how people and communities can better understand, engage with and participate in shaping the natural environment
- how access to the benefits of the natural environment can be made more equitable
- how changes in how we use and value the natural environment will shape future policy and practice
This programme supports projects that seek to protect, restore and enhance the UK’s natural environment. We are particularly interested in approaches that involve communities in shaping decisions about the natural environment, alongside work that explores how relationships with the natural environment are changing over time.
Projects can come from any area of society, but should fall into one or more of the following categories:
- Addressing nature degradation
Developing practical approaches to improving the condition of the natural environment, its causes and effects, including restoration, protection and enhancement of natural systems and landscapes. - Understanding and engaging with the natural environment
Increasing understanding, appreciation and engagement with the natural environment through participatory approaches that involve stakeholders and communities especially those that are underrepresented in this work. - Fair and equitable access to the natural environment
Exploring how access to the benefits of the natural environment can be improved across all communities, reducing barriers and addressing inequalities in access and experience. - Changing how we use and value the natural environment
Examining how evolving patterns of land use, development and societal values affect the natural environment, and exploring approaches that support more sustainable and informed decision-making.
Over the past three years, many applications have proposed visits to the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. While your choice of countries will not affect your application, we welcome project proposals that draw on learning and best practice from a wider range of countries.
When developing your application, we encourage you to:
- identify a clearly defined environmental challenge or opportunity
- explain how your project contributes to protecting, restoring or enhancing the natural environment
- consider how people, communities and systems interact with the natural environment
- show how your learning could contribute to change in policy, practice or communities in the UK
We also run a Climate Change programme under our Environment universal theme. You can only apply into one programme, but we recognise that both our Environment-themed programmes are linked, so we welcome applications that straddle both programmes, e.g. nature-based approaches that help communities address the causes and impacts of climate change.
We are looking for people with novel ideas, the passion and potential to make a real difference to their community or professional sector, and we assess on future possibilities not only past achievements. We value both lived and learned experience and prioritise those less likely to receive funding from elsewhere.
We particularly encourage applications from:
- people working in farming, land management, conservation, planning, local government and environmental bodies
- individuals in national parks, statutory bodies and arm’s-length organisations
- community groups, activists and practitioners working on local environmental challenges
- educators, youth workers and outdoor learning professionals
- civil servants and policymakers working on land use, environment and place-based policy
These are the projects supported under this programme. Exploring a similar issue will not count against your application, but we encourage you to consider your unique perspective and approach.
2026
Can the UK remain a stronghold for wild Atlantic salmon?
How rewilding can help build communities and local economies
How Community Woodlands can benefit rural communities and biodiversity
How to effectively integrate deer management into forestry education and forest management
Towards Recovery at Scale: Enabling Policy and Regulation for Estuarine and Coastal Restoration
Greener Cities - Accelerating Urban Nature for People and Wildlife
From the Andes to the Atlantic: Restoring Britain’s Lost Rainforests
How neglected urban spaces can support sport and nature, to tackle climate, health and social gaps
Making volunteering for bird conservation in the UK more accessible and engaging for autistic women
How to raise private funding for nature restoration
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2025
Islamic climate philanthropy and rainforest restoration
Helping puffins to help people understand marine conservation
Surfing can Shape Ocean Conservation, if we Challenge the Barriers
How indigenous respect for nature inspired granting of legal rights
Exploring how mountain cheesemaking could aid upland habitat restoration
Supporting UK seaweed farming to bring environmental and social benefit
From Tradition to Transformation: Farming Wisdom for Ecological Resilience
Environmental care at the heart of a flourishing education system
Making Rights of Nature a Reality in the UK
Philanthropy’s role in funding the fair transition to sustainable agriculture
Researching the mechanisms of Circular Economy 'Materials Hubs'
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2024
Enabling partnerships for wetland restoration at scale
Improving the sustainability of forensic consumables
Social housing gardens: green infrastructure for biodiversity, health & place-making
Diversifying participation in nature and the outdoors: insights from Japan
Forest bathing for teenagers with neurodiversity
Investigating the reintroduction of Britain's lost frog species
Future parks - exploring best practice in financial sustainability
Improving Greenspaces in Urban Areas
Rooting Change: Mainstreaming Forest Gardens
___________________________________________________________________________________________
2023
European woodmeadow management systems
Alternative Proteins - Adoption, Acceptance and Trust
Protecting Nature through Biosecurity & Invasive Species Control
Conservation translocations: Moving species in a changing climate
Planting trees vs natural regeneration for landscape recovery and rewilding
Rights of Nature: a viable approach for protecting UK ecosystems?
Drones & UK Wildfire - Lessons learnt from Canada
Cultural engagements for nature connectedness
Bringing resilience back to our food system through diversity
Mending fashion's relationship with nature through plant fibres and dyes
Speaking Nature's Voices into Human Legal Systems: A Practical Guide
Closing the net on bycatch
Invasive Plant Eradication: Best Practice, Added Value, Sustainability for Nature
Prefer a Word document?
Download the full programme brief