Grants of up to £100,000 available to help communities create greener, healthier urban spaces

Community groups, organisations and schools across Scotland are being invited to apply for grants of up to £100,000.

The fund of up to £10m is being delivered as part of the Urban Forestry Programme supporting projects that create, enhance, and expand urban woodlands. The programme is run by Future Woodlands Scotland with funding from JERA Nex bp, and aims to make Scotland’s towns and cities greener, healthier and more resilient places to live.

The first year of the programme saw 12 projects receive a total of £620,000 across Scotland, helping groups and organisations to transform underused spaces into thriving green areas. We hope these will benefit both people and nature, supporting biodiversity, education, community involvement and job creation.

Projects can now apply for funding of between £2,000 and £100,000, with applications open until 23 January 2026.

Helping communities achieve the 3:30:300 rule

Funding is now available for a wide range of projects from community groups to charities, local authorities, and schools, but they must contribute to the goal of helping towns and cities in Scotland achieve the 3:30:300 rule. This aims to ensure that every person can see three trees from their home, lives no more than 300 metres from a park or green space, and there is at least 30% tree canopy cover in every neighbourhood.

In its first year, the Urban Forestry Programme supported 12 projects including:

• An arts and environmental project at Govanhill which invites residents, artists and growers to co-create a dispersed orchard
• A primary school in East Renfrewshire where children are involved in transforming the school grounds through tree planting, making a healthier learning environment and increasing canopy cover
• Planting trees in high-priority neighbourhood across South Lanarkshire, with a link to Clyde Climate Forest to allow collaboration with partners

Laura Salvage, Community Volunteer Co-ordinator, The Conservation Volunteers, said:

“Engaging with passionate local volunteers is key to sustaining our urban forest. Support from the Urban Forestry Programme has helped us to grow the Clyde Climate Forest Tree Warden Scheme to 52 active volunteers across eight local authorities in the Glasgow City Region. These dedicated volunteers have planted more than 6,200 trees in priority neighbourhoods and continue to look after young trees through hands-on maintenance and training.”

Last year’s projects have already engaged hundreds of volunteers, planted thousands of trees, and strengthened local partnerships between communities, councils, and environmental groups.

Over the next 10 years, Future Woodlands Scotland, with the support of JERA Nex bp, will work to make Scotland’s cities, towns and urban areas greener and help more people benefit from increased green spaces via the Urban Forestry Programme.

Tom Hudson, Project Director, JERA Nex bp said:

“Following the success of last year’s programme, we’re proud to launch the second year of funding for the Urban Forestry Programme. This initiative allows us to work alongside communities across Scotland to create greener, healthier urban spaces. Seeing the positive impact from the first year – hundreds of volunteers engaged, thousands of trees planted – demonstrates the difference this programme can make, and we’re excited to build on that success.”

Applications for funding are now open until 23 January. Full guidance, eligibility criteria, and application forms are available on our urban forestry programme page