Governmental grants to facilitate expansion and restoration projects for NBS
Grants directed at municipalities, NGOs and businesses can play a crucial role in mainstreaming and scaling up restoration projects, as financing remains a main barrier.
Specific Advice
National, targeted grants for ecosystem restoration and conservation can help drive local adoption of NBS, to address specific environmental challenges. These grants could focus on particular ecosystem types — such as wetlands, forests, or coastal zones — to ensure that each receives dedicated attention and funding. Alternatively, a joint scheme should secure funding according to restoration needs in each ecosystem.
A focused approach to funding will help prioritize each ecosystem individually and prevent competition for funds across different ecosystem types, fostering a balanced and comprehensive restoration strategy. Grants should be accessible to municipalities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and businesses, with tailored models to suit the different needs and capacities of each stakeholder group.
Good to Know
In addition to supporting physical restoration efforts, grants should fund essential preparatory work like mapping and analysing suitable areas, ensuring that restoration projects are implemented in optimal locations and with the best methods.
It can be useful to provide clear information and guidance on restoration practices for each ecosystem to support municipalities and other stakeholders in implementing effective restoration efforts. This includes practical instructions on ecosystem-specific restoration techniques as well as details on relevant laws and regulations, which can vary significantly between ecosystems.
NBS, such as ecosystem restoration, can take years, if not decades, to reach full maturity and provide anticipated benefits. To ensure long-term success, financing mechanisms should be designed for sustained investment and support every phase of NBS - from research and planning through to design, implementation, and ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
Context
Experience from various countries shows that if restoration is to take place, it requires funding. For example, experience from Sweden (Local Nature Conservation Initiative, LONA) shows that municipalities do not have enough financial resources to work with wetland investments without grants. In comparison, some grant schemes offer funding for NBS as one of many measures, which results in competition for funds and less focus on the benefits and practical guidance for NBS projects. This shows the importance of establishing grant schemes for restoration, and/or protection, of individual ecosystem types.
Covering a higher percentage of restoration costs - up to 90% rather than a smaller contribution - significantly reduces financial barriers, enabling more stakeholders to take on ambitious NBS projects. Such financial contributions can provide a higher degree of restoration (of example wetlands) in municipalities. It should be noted that funding must be secured for all stages of restoration projects, from research and planning through to design, implementation, and ongoing monitoring and maintenance.
Examples and Cases
Nordic examples of governmental grants to facilitate restoration projects:
#SWEDEN - LOCAL NATURE CONSERVATION INITIATIVE
The Swedish local nature conservation initiative, LONA, is a contribution that will stimulate the long-term nature conservation commitment of municipalities and non-profit organisations. Within LONA there are two grant areas – LONA ordinary and LONA wetlands. What differentiates the areas is that wetland projects within LONA can be granted grants of up to 90 percent, while grants within LONA ordinary can be given with up to 50 percent of grant-eligible costs.
The grants are awarded by the county administrative boards and are applied for by municipalities, but various local actors (e.g. interest associations) can initiate projects. The projects are carried out either under the municipality's own auspices or by a local actor who has signed an agreement with the municipality. It is always the municipality that is responsible - from the application to the final report.
Wetland projects that can receive support are about restoring or creating wetlands, with the aim of strengthening the landscape's own ability to retain and balance water flows, or that increase the contribution to groundwater. But also, projects that can lead to a reduction in greenhouse emissions from ditched peatlands, or wetlands that benefit biodiversity and wetlands that bring about adaptations to a changing climate.
One example of granted LONA-funds are the municipality of Olofström. In 2019, Olofström municipality implemented a project financed with LONA grants. The purpose of the project was to make a preliminary study of where it might be appropriate to create or reinforce already existing wetlands along the two watercourses Snöflebodaån and Vilshultsån upstream of Olofström's community.
A preliminary study does not have its own effects for nature conservation, but a preliminary study is a good basis for being able to start restoring wetlands and strengthening the wetland character in areas that already have wet areas, are ditched, or for creating new wetlands. By looking at the entire stretches of the rivers, a series of wetlands that reinforce each other could be created. The combined effect of these can be significantly greater than the effect of individual wetlands individually.
After anchoring the results of the preliminary study within the municipality's organization, the next step was to make contact with current landowners in order to be able to plan projects that lead to the creation of wetlands. The LONA-financed project resulted in was presented to the employees concerned as well as to politicians in the municipality to anchor a continuation of the work on creating wetlands.
More information about the Swedish LONA project here:
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency; LONA – Lokala Naturvårdssatsningen: https://www.naturvardsverket.se/bidrag/lona/
Video: https://youtu.be/zYUcJkcw62c
#NORWAY – GRANTS FOR NATURE RESTORATION
Municipalities, organizations and private actors can apply for funding of measures that contribute to restoring degraded nature and measures contributing to climate adaptation or carbon storage. The measures can be in all kinds of terrestrial ecosystems, as well as certain nature types along the coast. The grant scheme is part of the Norway’s aim to upscale efforts on nature restoration.
In addition to implementing, the grant can also support the planning and follow-up of measures. The grants can however not be used for monitoring effects of the measures. The grants are administered by the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA). Projects that are cost effective and implemented by experts on nature restoration are prioritized. The grants are given for one year at the time, but initiatives that have received grants and have good progress are also prioritized for the next year. The financing of the grant scheme has been increased from 10 million NOK in 2024 to 30 million NOK in 2025.
More information about the Norwegian grants for nature restoration here:
https://soknadssenter.miljodirektoratet.no/NaturrestaureringSkjema/Startside/Index?id=82
The grants for measures for improving the water quality in rivers and streams can also be relevant for restoration initiatives. The funding scheme is administered by the Norwegian Environment Agency (NEA) and aims to contribute to the efforts in achieving environmental targets in line with the Water Regulation, which implements the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) in Norway. Applications for restoration measures are prioritised. The target groups for this funding are river basin district boards, intermunicipal projects, municipalities, research institutions, NGOs and private enterprises.
Learn more
Funding Ecosystem Restoration in Europe.
Trends and recommendations to inform practitioners, policymakers and funders: https://restorationfunders.com/ecosystem-restorationWorld Bank Ecosystem Restoration Finance Report
https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099955011092213526/pdf/P17770602aad4701309adb08b084c12888c.pdfSociety for Ecological Restoration.
An international non-profit organisation for ecological restoration who promote awareness of and public support for restoration and restorative management: https://ser-europe.org/International Obligations
Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
Ensure that by 2030 at least 30 per cent of areas of degraded terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine ecosystems are under effective restoration, in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services, ecological integrity and connectivity.EU Biodiversity Strategy
The strategy sets binding targetstorestore degraded ecosystems, in particular those with the most potential to capture and store carbon and to prevent and reduce the impact of natural disasters. One of the key commitments is to “unlock at least €20 billion a year for nature and ensure that a significant proportion of the 30% of the EU budget dedicated to climate action is invested in biodiversity and nature-based solutions.”EU Nature Restoration Law
The regulation combines an overarching restoration objective for the long-term recovery of nature in the EU’s land and sea areas with binding restoration targets for specific habitats and species. These measures should cover at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and ultimately all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.Water Framework Directive
The directive requires Member States to use their River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) and Programmes of Measures (PoMs) to protect and, where necessary, restore water bodies in order to reach good status, and to prevent deterioration. Good status means both good chemical and good ecological status.