The electricity distributor for the north of Scotland and central Southern England is supporting two nature projects with almost £250,000 of funding.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is supporting the regeneration of 24 hectares of woodland in Somerset and the restoration of 11 hectares of a fen bordering in Oxfordshire.
SSEN is distributing the funding via a new government platform called ‘Projects for Nature’. SSEN is a founding partner and the first utility firm to support “Projects for Nature’.
Lloyds Banking Group was unveiled as the first backer of the scheme.
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The platform teams up businesses and investors with nature projects that have been assessed by the UK Government’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Natural England and the Environment Agency.
The site at Heal in Somerset only began its recovery from its ecologically depleted state at the beginning of last year.
SSEN says the new funding will do much to help wildlife to return in abundance to this peaceful, restorative place.
Alkaline fens like the one that will now be restored in Oxfordshire support a wide array of wetland species – some of which are very rare and not found anywhere else. They are extremely important for the UK’s biodiversity but are vulnerable to encroachment from trees and shrubs, and drying from land conversion.
The funding will help rewet this vulnerable area, says SSEN.
