Bemptom Cliffs

Landscapes, parks and nature

  1. Home
  2. Our work
  3. Landscapes, parks and nature

Landscapes, parks and nature

Nature is our oldest form of heritage. Looking after nature and helping people to understand its importance has never been more important.

The need to aid nature’s recovery is urgent. That is why funding landscapes and nature is one of our key strategic funding priorities until 2024.

We expect all the projects we support to do their best to:

  • reduce nature’s loss
  • maintain the beauty and quality of our urban and rural landscapes
  • help people to reconnect with wildlife

Everyone must now do their bit for nature

Even if your project is not solely focused on landscapes or nature, we now expect all projects to improve their environmental sustainability and particularly to create positive benefits for nature.

This could include:

  • creating new bat roosts or nesting boxes
  • including green roofs and permeable hard surfaces
  • providing ponds and swales for natural drainage
  • creating wildflower areas rather than close-mown grass
  • increasing tree planting and native hedgerows
  • using native and bee-friendly plants
  • not using peat

What we have funded so far

Thanks to National Lottery players, since 1994 we have invested £1.6billion in landscapes and nature, including more than £950m in public parks and cemeteries.

This includes:

  • regenerating over 900 historic public parks and cemeteries
  • creating and improving important habitats such as orchards and peat bogs
  • helping people to understand and value our seas
  • promoting green volunteering, learning and citizen science
  • helping threatened species to thrive again
  • helping people to use landscapes and nature to learn, thrive and stay healthy

Find out more about what we fund:

How to get funding

Find out whether your project is eligible for funding.

Volunteers recording Hooe Lake vessels, Plymouth
Volunteers recording Hooe Lake vessels, Plymouth CITiZAN

News article

Volunteers wanted for award-winning coastal project

CITiZAN, launched in 2015, is led by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) and supported by the National Lottery. It has seen citizen scientists discovering, recording and preserving fragile archaeological sites along England’s coastline before they are destroyed by erosion. Now the National Lottery
Nick volunteers at the HLF-funded project Field to Fork
Nick volunteers at the HLF-funded project Field to Fork

Story

Changing lives: how volunteering helped Nick find purpose again

After being diagnosed with a serious chronic illness, Nick struggled to put his 20 years of experience in agriculture to use. Tatton Park Farm’s Field to Fork project has allowed him to share his skills.

Publication

What have we done for nature?

Our researchers analysed grant award data from 1994 to March 2017. They also interviewed 20 key stakeholders from across the UK who have an interest in landscapes and nature. The aim of this research was to explore the strategic impact that HLF investment has had on landscapes and nature. It will

Publication

State of UK Public Parks 2016

Our latest State of UK Public Parks 2016 report updates the previous study undertaken in 2014. What does the research show? This second State of the UK Public Parks report shows that there is a growing deficit between the rising use of parks and the declining resources that are available to manage
The Get Cumbria Buzzing project

News article

Saving Cumbria's biodiversity

The National Lottery has announced £2million in funding to help save, protect and reintroduce wildlife across the county of Cumbria.
A Sand Lizard

News article

Bringing nature back from the brink

The news from the UN that the global rate of extinction is accelerating – with at least a 20% decline over the last century - caused reverberations around the world when it was published earlier this month.
Bottlenose Dolphin

News article

Free family events for the summer holidays

The summer holidays are perfect for spending quality time outside with your loved ones. Need inspiration for what to do? These nine National Lottery funded ideas are a breath of fresh air.
Alan Stapleton. Credit: Beth Harper
Alan Stapleton. Credit: Beth Harper

News article

Why should we count butterflies?

It’s time for the Big Butterfly Count! Alan Stapleton, a volunteer helping some of our most endangered butterfly species, explains why it's so important to get involved.