Biodiversity Challenge Fund (BCF)

Biodiversity Challenge Fund boosted by additional funds from the Programme for Government

Third round now closed for applications - successful projects announced on 26 May 2021.

Read our latest news release - Multimillion nature fund ‘takes to the water’

The Fund

The Biodiversity Challenge Fund (BCF) is a competitive fund launched in February 2019 which specifically encourages applicants with innovative projects that improve biodiversity, and address the impact of climate change, by increasing the resilience of our most at-risk habitats and species and creating large areas of new or restored habitat.

In 2019, funding was awarded to 21 projects and, fulfilling commitments made in the 2018 and 2019 Programmes for Government to establish and then to extend a Biodiversity Challenge Fund, a second round was launched in December 2019. Seeking to support targeted nature-based solutions that help to tackle the climate emergency, a further 16 projects were successful in securing funding in July 2020.

The Biodiversity Challenge Fund has been further boosted by additional funds from the 2020 Programme for Government and a third round opened in December 2020 for transformational projects which improve habitats, safeguard species and tackle the causes of biodiversity loss. This round has closed for applications and 12 successful projects were announced in May 2021. A further project from this round has since also been successful, increasing the third round total to 13 projects.

If you have any queries on the fund, please email [email protected] in the first instance.

Successful projects

The Biodiversity Challenge Fund Story Map features projects which are underway or have completed.