New Forest Biodiversity Forum Funding

Funding to support biodiversity survey, monitoring, recording, and conservation in the New Forest National Park.

The New Forest Biodiversity Forum aims to support and promote biodiversity survey, monitoring, and recording in the New Forest National Park, and to support landowners and land managers engaged in conservation management. The Forum is sponsored by Kairos Philanthropy Fund, which has committed core funding over the period 2024-27.

The New Forest Biodiversity Forum provides grant funding to support biodiversity survey, monitoring, recording, and conservation in the New Forest National Park via a Small Grant Scheme and Strategic Research Programme.

The Strategic Research Programme aims to support research and survey activities related to New Forest biodiversity and conservation. Projects should include some of the following elements: biodiversity research, survey, monitoring, and recording.

Priority will be given to projects that can generate results within one to two years; it is therefore unlikely that we will fund PhD studentships via this scheme. 

Applications should seek to address one of the following identified priority topics relating to New Forest biodiversity and conservation:

• Distribution, abundance, and ecological impact of large grazing herbivores.
• Management and restoration of designated habitats.
• Recreational impacts on vulnerable habitats and species.
• Habitat mapping and ecosystem monitoring.
• Pollution impacts on habitats and species.
• Linking the forest core, fringe, and wider landscape.
• Building resilience to climate change and extreme weather.
• New technologies and techniques for biodiversity monitoring.
• Species (re)introductions and non-native species.

Priority will be given to applications that build upon or leverage other funding sources, eg research grant funding.

The Small Grant Scheme aims to support relatively small funding requests related to New Forest biodiversity and conservation. Projects should include some of the following elements: biodiversity survey, monitoring, research, and recording, and/or conservation management actions to improve biodiversity.

The following topics are considered high priority for the Small Grant Scheme:

• Increasing the knowledge base for under-recorded species and species interactions.
• Increasing the quantity, quality, and accessibility of biodiversity data.
• Building effective networks of stakeholders, volunteers, and citizen scientists.

Applications where the small grant scheme builds upon or leverages other funding sources and/or volunteer time are particularly welcomed.