Norfolk Wildlife Trust is one of the first environmental projects awarded a grant from the government’s £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund.
Defra announced grants between £62,000 and £3.8 million today to help create and retain thousands of green jobs. The projects, spread across England, will see protected landscapes and damaged habitats such as moorlands, wetlands and forests restored, alongside wider conservation work. The projects will also support environmental education and connecting people with green spaces.
Norfolk Wildlife Trust’s project will create seven new jobs, developing future conservation professionals to work across the county on habitat management, wildlife monitoring, protecting county wildlife sites and enhancing public awareness of nature. It builds significantly on NWT’s already successful apprenticeship programme, which has trained and supported many young people keen to embark on a career in nature conservation. These new posts will be a combination of entry level posts and undergraduate and graduate internships.
Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, Pamela Abbott, said:
“We are truly delighted to receive this investment from the Green Recovery Challenge Fund to help us to do more for nature across Norfolk: protecting habitats, providing conservation advice and engaging more people with wildlife. We are committed to saving Norfolk’s wildlife and this is a major expansion in our capabilities that also gives skills and a step on the career ladder to a new generation of conservation professionals.”
The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is a key part of Prime Minister’s 10 Point Plan to kick-start nature recovery and tackle climate change. The fund is being delivered by the National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Environment Minister, Rebecca Pow, said:
“These projects will drive forward work across England to restore and transform our landscapes, boost nature and create green jobs, and will be a vital part of helping us to build back greener from coronavirus.
“I look forward to working with environmental organisations as these projects help address the twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change, while creating and retaining jobs as part of the green recovery.”
Ros Kerslake, Chief Executive, National Lottery Heritage Fund, said:
“Supporting our natural environment is one of the most valuable things we can do right now. All these projects are of huge benefit to our beautiful countryside and wildlife, but will also support jobs, health and wellbeing, which are vitally important as we begin to emerge from the coronavirus crisis.”
The government’s forthcoming
Environment Bill puts the environment at the centre of policy making to ensure that we have a cleaner, greener and more resilient country for the next generation. The fund is supporting a range of nature conservation and recovery and nature-based solutions projects, which will contribute towards government’s wider
25 Year Environment Plan commitments, including commitments to increase tree-planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by 2025.
The vacancies will be advertised on our
jobs page later this month and in the new year.