Park Authority announces 18 recipients of £370,000 climate adaptation fund

The Cairngorms National Park Authority has awarded £370,000 to 18 farmers, land managers, businesses and community groups to fund immediate and positive action to address the challenges of climate change in the National Park.

The 18 funded projects will receive between £2,500 and £46,700. Projects include:

• Flood bank restoration and woodland planting at Balliefurth Farm in Nethy Bridge.
• The installation of solar panels, battery storage solutions and an air source heat pump system at Gray’s Auto Services in Kingussie.
• A community river restoration project in Ballater to protect the lower village from flooding.
• The improvement of building insulation at the Glenmore Visitor Centre.
• The purchase of wildfire management equipment and training at Marr Lodge Estate and Alvie and Dalraddy Estate.

Rural Affairs Secretary, Mairi Gougeon, said: “We recognise that Scotland’s rural communities are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. That’s why we are continuing to take action to help improve resilience for those living in rural areas.

“This support puts power into the hands of farmers, land managers and community groups wishing to mitigate the effects of climate change and nature loss. It will provide immediate and tangible benefits for those wishing to safeguard their businesses.

“The fund is the latest example of the ongoing, active role that our national parks play in supporting local residents to tackle key community and nature challenges.”

The £370,000 fund was in great demand, with more than 50 applications received at a total value of nearly £1.8m. Sandy Bremner, Convener at the Cairngorms National Park Authority, said: “We know that the people who live and work here in the National Park care passionately about it, so it’s no surprise that we received an overwhelming number of innovative and robust project ideas for this fund. Tackling the nature and climate crisis is a collective effort and it’s encouraging to see such strength of commitment from the applicants to playing their part. We are delighted to have leveraged this support to create the Climate Adaptation Fund.

 “This fund was designed to empower businesses, farmers, land managers, community groups and others to act and adapt to a changing climate. The 18 projects from across the Cairngorms National Park will not only address climate change challenges in the recipients’ organisations, but they’ll also have a wider impact in their communities.  I look forward to seeing these projects develop and the positive effect they will make here in the National Park.”

The fund considered the themes of nature, people, and place set out in the National Park Partnership Plan 2022-2027 and applicants had to align project proposals with their contribution to climate adaptation within the National Park that help deliver the Scottish National Climate Change Adaptation Programme, the promotion of nature-based solutions and green engineering to help adapt to climate change while contributing to habitat and species recovery in the National Park and maximising their contribution to sustainable local employment and economic activity within the National Park.

Abby and Patrick Harrison of Balliefurth Farm successfully applied to the fund for flood bank restoration and woodland planting at their farm in Nethy Bridge: “We are delighted that our proposal was successful. We strongly believe the project will enhance further the biodiversity at Balliefurth and protect critical wading bird habitat. It will also protect nature-friendly, productive and fertile farmland not only here but also of our neighbours. The project involves strengthening the River Spey flood-bank opposite the River Dulnain and the planting of species rich grasses and a variety of native shrubs and small trees to slow the water flow.”

In Kingussie, Gray’s Auto Services, successfully applied to the fund to support a long-term plan to reduce their environmental impact. Brett Wells, Director at Gray’s Auto Services Limited, said: “We are delighted to receive support through the Park Authority’s Climate Adaptation Fund.  This will accelerate some of our actions resulting in the plan being implemented over a shorter timescale. We will be making improvements in our energy and resource efficiency by installing a solar PV and battery storage system, an air source heat pump and a rainwater harvesting system.  By utilising natural resources we will reduce our carbon footprint, benefitting the local area and making improvements to the working environment for our staff. We will be contributing to the local economy by primarily using local businesses for the installations.”

An application from the community trust, Ballater (RD) Ltd, in collaboration with the Community Council and Ballater Golf Club, was also successful. The project is a community river restoration project in Ballater to protect the lower village from flooding. Richard Frimston of Ballater (RD) Ltd, said: “Our Hesco box barrier proved its worth in January 2024 when the lower village and caravan park remained dry although the river was at 540m3/sec. The initial funding for the barrier was provided locally by the Ballater Chiels, Ballater Community Enterprise Ltd and Marr Area. Thanks to further funding from the Cairngorm National Park Authority, the water side of the barrier has now been covered with soil donated by the golf club, erosion control mesh installed, and topsoil seeded.

“The hope is that the bank will consolidate sufficiently to withstand likely river flows. There is potential for the barrier to be undercut by the river and therefore windblown trees will be brought in to take the energy out of the flow and redirect the river flow away. Abergeldie estate is kindly donating trees for this purpose and again we are very grateful to Park Authority for funding the costs.”

The fund is the latest in a series of measures within the Cairngorms National Park to tackle the nature and climate crisis. It follows the announcement in February this year of the five year Cairngorms 2030 programme. The programme, supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, will inspire people and communities in the National Park to take action and tackle the nature and climate crisis. The programme brings together 20 long-term projects on nature restoration, active travel and sustainable transport, community development and health and wellbeing. Together, they will help the Cairngorms become the UK’s first net zero national park.

See the full list of Climate Adaptation Fund recipients here.