Paul Sizeland, Leah Reinfranck & Amelia Heath: Unlocking nature finance opportunities

Paul joined Fisheries Management Scotland in May 2023 from NatureScot where he had been leading NatureScot’s input to the draft Scottish Biodiversity Strategy. Paul is working with FMS members and stakeholders across the landowning, land-managing, public and private sectors to secure nature finance to support efforts to address pressures on the freshwater environment.

Leah is the Nature Finance Project Officer at Fisheries Management Scotland and is contributing to the development of the Scottish Rivers Fund – an ambitious project designed to unlock the vital corporate investment needed to restore healthy, resilient river catchments across Scotland for both nature and people.

Amelia has worked for the Forth Rivers Trust since 2017, initially as the Finance Manager until expanding her role to include project development and project management. Since 2021 Amelia has been managing climate resilience projects throughout the Trust’s operating area, including in the Loch Lomond Trossachs National Park. She also leads the Trust on nature finance, including its pilot nature finance project, Leven LENs. In 2023, Amelia was appointed permanent Co-Director of the Trust.

In this presentation FMS Nature Finance team joins forces with The Forth Rivers Trust to provide a snapshot of current developments in nature finance supporting restoration action for our rivers. Paul highlights how FMS members across Scotland are accessing sources of finance ranging from Biodiversity Net Gain, corporate sponsorship and selling ecosystem services to benefit business and river health. He underscores the importance of strategic visioning at catchment scale to identify the big opportunities. Paul also emphasises the importance of broader engagement with policy and science to support river restoration action. Leah provides a concise overview of the work undertaken developing the Scottish Rivers Fund and key findings to develop an accessible and flexible fund. Leah emphasises the valuable input by FMS members and stakeholders in their submission of projects reflecting local needs to the portfolio. In closing, Amelia illustrates a great success in securing corporate partnerships through a LENs (Landscape Enterprise Network) on the River Leven in Fife and the scope for broadening the application of the LENs model to other parts of Scotland.