Landowners across Wales are being encouraged to support Wales’ peatland restoration ambitions and apply for a share of a £700k funding pot aimed at restoring the nation’s irreplaceable landscapes.

Launched today (18 December 2024) the new Peatland Restoration Grant, offers landowners between £10K-£250K to develop and deliver peatland restoration in 2025.

The Welsh Government funded scheme to restore peatland is allocated through the National Peatland Action Programme   (NPAP) which is managed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

This new flexible 100% funded Peatland Restoration Grant offers opportunities to both landowners new to peatland restoration and those with shovel-ready plans. The applications are open until 18 March 2025, with further webinar guidance available.

Mannon Lewis, NRW’s Strategic Projects lead for NPAP  explained:

“Peatland covers only 4% of Wales yet stores 30% of our land-based carbon and is vital to tackle the Climate and Nature emergencies. As 90% of our peatlands are damaged, they actively release harmful greenhouse gases. In contrast, restored healthy wet peatland continuously forms peat layers that capture carbon. So peat at a depth of 30cm has captured carbon for around 300 years, including the carbon from our industrial age. Offering this open competitive Peatland Restoration Grant is one way NPAP can support partners across Wales to achieve increasingly ambitious restoration goals for the benefit of future generations.”

The Deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Huw Irranca-Daviessaid:

“Earlier this year we announced that we’d already beaten our peatland restoration targets – this means we’re saving a huge 8,000 tonnes of carbon a year! Thanks to the National Peatland Action Programme, we’re well on our way in ensuring these precious habitats continue to help combat climate change by learning to survive and adapt in our ever changing climate. This new Peatland Restoration Grant is another step forward to accelerate restoration and I encourage landowners in Wales to apply.”

Dr Rhoswen Leonard, NPAP’s Project Manager  explained:

“The Peatland Programme ethos is to work in partnership and to proactively seek feedback to evolve the options for landowners and land managers. Both the former Development and Delivery grants proved successful and over-subscribed. Yet we also identified a willingness by some partners to move seamlessly from the development stage to the delivery stage without pausing to reapply for a new grant. This then is the new combined Peatland Restoration Grant, an improved version of what was previously on offer, improved because of our strong partnership approach towards Wales Peatland Action.”

Since 2022 the National Peatland Action Programme has distributed 26 competitive grants worth £1.4M. Information about the work funded through NPAP is publicly available through the Welsh Peatland Data Map and examples of the over 100 possible actions can be found in the NPAP peatland restoration glossary .

The application deadline for the Peatland Restoration Grant is 18 March 2025. Guidance and application details are on the NPAP grants page.

In addition, potential applicants can register for free Welsh and English guidance webinars on 6 February 2024.