How the Species Survival Fund is supporting nature tasks throughout England

Our interim analysis report explores findings from the programme’s first yr of supply, creating and restoring habitats that reverse the decline of species.

Species Survival Fund (SSF) is a two-year nature restoration programme that’s investing £25million in 20 tasks throughout England. We are delivering SSF on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

The programme was designed to make early progress in the direction of the UK authorities’s statutory targets for species abundance and the restoration and creation of wildlife-rich habitats. These are referred to collectively because the statutory Biodiversity Targets.

We commissioned an unbiased analysis of the programme in July 2024 to comply with SSF’s progress, see how it’s contributing to those targets, and to grasp what classes we are able to be taught to tell our future nature restoration work.

Key findings

The interim analysis covers the primary yr of supply, from April 2024 to April 2025. The report exhibits that the tasks are delivering the programmes priorities and are motivated to revive and create habitats that join individuals with nature. It additionally exhibits that:

• Strong partnerships with native organisations helped tasks to suppose extra strategically, discover funding alternatives and change learnings
• 205.2 hectares of habitat have been managed, restored and created
• 6,138 timber have been planted, 1,059 habitat and species surveys came about and 454 habitat enchancment actions have been accomplished, together with seeding native wildflowers and putting in winter shelters for small mammals
• Projects have enough assets to hold out species and habitat surveys to watch the effectiveness of actions
• Over 14,490 individuals engaged with 358 occasions, together with guided walks and faculty visits
• Projects immediately supported 144 jobs and three,202 volunteers contributed their time
• 576 venture employees and volunteers obtained coaching that included surveying and technical expertise

Explore a number of the tasks

Re:New Nature

New Forest National Park Authority obtained a grant of £1.04m to carry collectively companions and landowners to revive habitats throughout 250 hectares of land spanning 25 websites.

Part of the funding helps to ship group actions, together with nice crested newt eDNA coaching days and litter picks with younger individuals to construct the communities consciousness of conservation.

Coastal and Wetlands venture

RSPB obtained a grant of almost £2.5m to revive landscapes throughout the South East of England. The venture is reworking grazing marshes at Vange Wick to create climate-adaptive habitats that retain winter water for longer, while supporting species just like the tumbling lapwing.

They’ve additionally led the best way on nature prescribing programmes, the place they’re coaching healthcare professionals and occupational therapists to prescribe nature as a part of their apply. 

Northwest and Southwest Rainforest Restoration

Our dedication to nature

We will use this interim report together with the ultimate analysis in late 2026, to assist us determine what approaches to nature restoration are most impactful and the way this might help our future grant-making. This shall be in keeping with our technique, Heritage 2033, the place defending the setting is one in every of our 4 funding ideas.

Read the interim SSF report within the PDF connected to this web page, and discover out extra about what the inspiring tasks have achieved thus far.

Our analysis and analysis

We frequently conduct analysis to find what is going on within the heritage sector and we consider our work to raised perceive the change we’re making. Read extra of our perception.