Government nature fund creates thousands of green jobs

More than 2,500 jobs have been created in the environmental sector thanks to the government backed Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

The report – published by The Heritage Fund, which distributed the funding – shows the flagship £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund supported more than 150 environmental projects from North Northumberland to the tip of Cornwall, helping create 2,630 jobs in green sectors and connecting more than 400,000 people to nature.

The fund supported a range of projects, including large-scale initiatives to protect landscapes and restore important habitats. The fund also enabled projects to help wildlife flourish by creating bat boxes, kingfisher tubes and bug hotels, as well as launch community schemes and events which aimed to bring people closer to nature.

The report finds:

The fund supported nature conservation and restoration across nearly 450,000 hectares of land, and created indirect benefits for more than 1.5 million hectares of land.
Overall, 1,895 sites have benefitted from GRCF environmental actions across the programme, with projects helping to deliver positive impacts on biodiversity, habitat quality and ecosystem health across England.
The GRCF enabled 609 improvements or installations of infrastructure, including 192km of footpaths, 37km of fences, and 8km of boardwalks to improve access to nature.