The Solway Coast and Marine Landscape Connections Project (SCAMP Landscape Connections) has been awarded £8 million, becoming the inaugural recipient of funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund's £150 million Landscape Connections initiative.

This significant investment will support a ten-year program of habitat restoration, community engagement, and nature-based solutions along a 210-mile stretch of Scotland's Solway coastline and its coastal waters.

The project, which covers diverse scenery from salt marshes to sea cliffs and sandy beaches, will initially receive £1.4m to develop detailed plans. This will unlock a further £6.4m in National Lottery funding and is intended to serve as a model for attracting additional green finance. The Solway Firth, a world-class seascape, extends over 200 miles from the Scottish-English border to Loch Ryan, encompassing Scotland's most southerly point, the Mull of Galloway. A recent WWF report underscored the vital role of the UK's saltmarshes in combating climate change.

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Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, commented: "This is the perfect project to kick-start our UK-wide £150m Landscape Connections initiative, demonstrating the scope of our ambitions to support nature recovery on a vast scale." She highlighted the Solway Firth's rich natural heritage and its historical support for local communities.

Dumfries and Galloway Council is leading the SCAMP project in collaboration with several local partners, including Dumfries and Galloway Woodlands, Crichton Carbon Centre, Galloway Fisheries Trust, Galloway and Southern Ayrshire Biosphere, The Solway Firth Partnership, The Southern Uplands Partnership, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds Scotland.

Councillor Gail Macgregor, Leader of Dumfries and Galloway Council, expressed excitement about the support, stating, "This commitment demonstrates the huge potential of our Solway Coast to become a leading light in coastal and marine nature restoration, playing its part in helping with the nature and climate crisis."

Delivered over 10 years, including a two-year development phase, SCAMP Landscape Connections will adopt a "whole seascape approach" to understand, conserve, restore, and develop the natural, cultural, and built heritage of the Solway Firth coast. This will involve an extensive program of habitat restoration across 35 planned initiatives. Key habitats to be prioritised include seagrass meadows, native oyster reefs, saltmarsh, coastal woodland, and sand dunes. The project also aims to integrate learning, green job opportunities, and training for communities and young people.

Furthermore, SCAMP will build on efforts to develop financial models supporting emerging blue carbon and marine and coastal biodiversity financial markets. The initiative also plans to create 120 miles of new coastal trail, enhance 10 coastal gateway sites, and improve interpretation along the coast to enrich visitor experience and learning about the Solway Firth.