NCF Nature for Climate Peatland Discovery Grant Scheme Round 2

Through the NCPGS, the government intends to invest over £50 million in peat restoration by 2025. There are two separate grants in the NCPGS:

• Restoration Grants
• Discovery Grants

Restoration Grants fund capital works to restore peatland on a landscape scale. They can fund up to 75% of costs, and in exceptional cases up to 85%. The window for applications to the 2022 Restoration Grant is due to open in April and will run for 8 weeks.

You can find out more about the Restoration Grant in the ‘NCPGS Restoration Grant Guide for Applicants’, a copy of which is provided as an Annex of the Discovery Grant Invitation to Apply (ITA) pack. Final details of the 2023 Restoration Grant will be confirmed prior to the 2023 application window.

Discovery Grants fund work to unlock barriers to peatland restoration and prepare projects to apply for Restoration Grants in future rounds. It is expected that if you receive a Discovery Grant, you will bid into the final Restoration Grant round in 2023. Discovery Grants can cover up to 100% of costs.

Peatland restoration includes works to raise the water table or reinstate peat-forming vegetation. Barriers to restoration may be from any aspect of a project, such as:

• the physical and historic nature of peatland sites
• partnership working
• development and securing of private finance

This may include, but is not limited to, funding to:

• build capacity and capability in new or nascent peat partnerships
• engage new partners or landowners
• explore opportunities for private investment funding
• develop site understanding, including baseline monitoring, hydrological and ecological surveys, or historic environment assessments.