Email not displaying properly? Click here to see it in your browser.

HIEF January Update

Latest Grants

• Grantee: Fish Legal 
• Grant amount: £15,000 
• Read more: here

Currently, the environmentally destructive practice of bottom-trawling is allowed in 95% of Scotland’s inshore waters. This project scopes the design for a Network of Inshore Static Gear Reserves for Scotland, framing ‘low-impact, high value’ creel fishing as an alternative to the ‘high impact, low value’ method of bottom trawling.

Amphibian and Reptile Crofter Guidance

• Grantee: Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 
• Grant amount: £8,952 
• Read more: here

This project will work with crofters and growers across the Highlands and Islands to co-design a management guide with advice on how best to maintain and enhance habitats for amphibians and reptiles on crofts.

Skye & Lochalsh Marine Life Rescue

• Grantee: British Divers and Marine Life Rescue Skye and Lochalsh
• Grant amount: £7,000 
• Read more: here

The British Divers and Marine Life Rescue (BDMLR) respond to emergency marine life situations (eg whale entanglements, abandoned seal pups) through a network of regional voluntary teams. This grant will support the work of BDMLR Skye & Lochalsh, enabling crucial kit replacements alongside community outreach and recruitment activities. 

• Grantee: Lunan Burn Wildlife Cluster
• Grant amount: £7,128 
• Read more: here

A two-part project involving baseline data collection, and conservation measures for swifts and bats. Bio-acoustic monitoring – whereby vocalisations of different species are recorded, displayed and analysed – will be used to identify species in the cluster area. Simultaneously, the group are aiming to increase bat and swift populations through the use of boxes and innovative ‘callers’ to attract swifts to settle in the new boxes more quickly.

 Argyll Sea Change Economic Assessment

• Grantee: The Open Seas Trust
• Grant amount: £15,000 
• Read more: here

A research project that will compare the economic benefits of high-impact (dredging) vs low-impact (hand-dived) scallops for local communities in the Argyll area. Results will be used to inform policy work going forwards.

Industry Analysis to inform policy

• £30,000 Awarded
• Read more: here

This grant will support two Scottish charities to analyse and evaluate the overall economic and environmental impacts of a wide-spread industry that operates in Scotland.  The findings will be shared to provide objective insights to inform government policy decisions and to guide political manifestos ahead of the Scottish Parliamentary elections in 2026. More information will be announced in due course.

Further application rounds will take place in the summer and autumn, with deadlines 2nd June and 1st September.

Project Updates

Blue Hope Alliance
We are excited to share an end of grant update from the Blue Hope Alliance, an inspiring coalition in the North West Highlands who monitor threatened maerl habitats and raise awareness of the richness of life to be found on the seabed. 

Other News

Sustainability Film Grant
JHP Visuals, who produced the fantastic Cutting Down video, have an exciting grant opportunity for “for all registered charities or social enterprises based in Scotland whose work benefits the environment or people in a sustainable way”. For more information, and to apply, click here.

And if you would like to put in an application for funding, then please contact louis@hief.scot to discuss.

Best wishes,
Louis & Sally