Annan FIRNS Project

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Galloway Fisheries Trust (GFT) has been working for many years to restore river habitats for the benefit of native fish populations, biodiversity and the climate resilience of freshwater systems, with many successful projects delivered across SW Scotland.

Key to achieving these aims is that habitat restoration work is carried out at scale.

With a view to this, GFT is exploring how habitat restoration work can be scaled up, utilising novel sources of funding to carry out larger restoration works, at a greater number of sites, and co-ordinated at the catchment-scale.

Through the ‘FIRNS’ fund (Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland), provided by NatureScot and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, GFT has been working to establish an ‘investment-ready’ project working closely with the Annan DSFB.

Whereas the process of securing grant funding for restoration works is both well established and familiar to eNGOS such as GFT, the process of encountering and engaging with those in the private sector who might want to fund such works is not.

Likewise, whilst methods required to restore natural habitats are known to those working in the environmental sector, they may not be to those in the private sector who want to create such an impact.

The aim of GFT’s FIRNS project is to bridge these gaps, learning how our on-the-ground projects can be developed, packaged and marketed in such a way as to make them both visible, and attractive to prospective private funders.

Initial work to scope out the opportunity for a catchment-wide portfolio of restoration works across the River Annan was scoped as part of the initial ‘FIRNS 1’ funding phase. This funding also allowed us to identify the current challenges and obstacles to attaining private sector funding.

This work was succeeded by second-phase, or ‘FIRNS 2’ funding, with which work began in April 2024 to start tackling these challenges, and put the structures in place to take our project to the stage of being ‘investment ready’.

With there being so many areas of new ground for us as part of this process, we chose to employ a learning-by-doing approach, selecting a diverse handful of ‘pilot sites’ in the upper Annan catchment to trial and actively develop this process.

At these sites we have been designing restorations plans and exploring how different metrics can be used to measure the environmental benefits of such works. This is a key consideration in ensuring that the project provides a transparent and robust ‘offer’ to those wanting to fund the work.

We have also been working with landowners at these sites to discuss project-landowner agreements, which will set out how the works will be delivered, maintained and monitored to ensure that restoration works will deliver the environmental benefits they intend to.

Meanwhile, several additional project sites are also under development, creating a next-phase of works to follow that of the pilot sites, and a pipeline of investment-ready projects.

Another workstream has been to explore the options for the use of a ‘special purpose vehicle’ to operate the project. Having done so, GFT is now working to re-activate the currently dormant River Annan Trust (RAT), which will serve to take ownership and management of the project.

Finally, work has been taking place to establish what the project-funder agreement will look like, what the costs of the project are, how the payments are made, what the quantified benefits of the works are, and how the funder can use or publicise this info to demonstrate the positive impact that they’ve enabled.

Whilst funding GFT staff time to carry out all this work, FIRNS has also enabled us to bring in significant additional expertise to assist with this work. We have been working with Galbraith throughout the process, who have been providing us with guidance on all things ‘natural capital’ and business related as part of this work.

Concurrently, GFT has been working with Southern Upland Partnership, a local rural regeneration charity, to advise the project on community engagement and participation. A key part of work to attract funding through novel mechanisms is also to explore ways in which it can provide beneficial outcomes for local people, as well as the species and habitats throughout the river network.