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Seabirds – Taking Flight OPEN

Taking Flight 2 is OPEN for applications

Taking Flight seeks to fund projects which support progress of key Scottish seabird priority actions, as outlined in the Scottish Seabird Conservation Action Plan (Seabird CAP). We are pleased to announce the launch of the second round of Taking Flight, through which we will award:

  • Grants in the range of £25,000 to £100,000.
  • Grants up to a maximum of 18 months in length.

Applications will be assessed on how they demonstrate the extent to which the project will meet the following criteria:

  1. Planning and Innovation

The project is spatially targeted pilot, trialling or testing techniques, new equipment, and/or novel methods to produce learnings to fill knowledge gaps and support further, scalable implementation.

  1. Demonstrating Benefits for Seabirds

The project demonstrates the existence of the pressure the project would address, evidences how the approach could help to reduce or eliminate this pressure, and outlines the expected impacts on seabird populations.

  1. Dissemination of Recommendations

A plan has or will be developed for disseminating project learnings to support collaboration across the sector. This should include outlining the evidence gained through the project, how it has been of benefit to seabirds and the costs associated with delivering it, how the approach could be scaled to a regional or national level, any unintended benefits, any challenges faces and how these were overcome, and the timescales and channels for sharing this information.

  1. Collaboration and Co-ordination

The project will work collaboratively to increase dialogue and engagement across communities, organisations, sectors, and businesses, and bring new people together in aid of seabird conservation.

Applying to Taking Flight

All applications to Taking Flight should be submitted using the NatureScot’s Grant Management System (GMS) portal, accessed here: https://naturescot.flexigrant.com/.

Applications will follow the two-stage process described below.

Stage 1:Expression of Interest (EoI)

EoIs will be reviewed by the SMEEF team and members of the wider NatureScot team. If your application has been successful, you will then be invited to submit a Full Application. Please note that due to team capacity, if your application is unsuccessful at this stage we will unfortunately be unable to provide you with feedback. We will aim to inform all applicants of the outcome of EoIs at the start of October 2026.

Stage 2: Full Application

  • Open from Monday 5th October until midday on Friday 30th October, for decision in early 2027.
  • Your Full Application should build on the information submitted through your EoI and the feedback we will provide you with following our review of your EoI.
  • All Full Applications will be submitted through the GMS portal.

Full applications will be assessed by SMEEF and members of the wider NatureScot team. Following this, applications will be reviewed by the SMEEF Grants Panel and Steering Group. Please note that during this assessment period, we may get in touch with you to request additional information or to discuss your application further.

Who can apply

Applicant(s) must be based in the UK and all projects must be delivered in Scotland. The following types of organisations are eligible to apply:

  • Registered Charity
  • Constituted Community Group
  • Community Interest or Benefit Group
  • Public Body
  • Private Company
  • Academic Organisation
  • Partnerships and organisations working collaboratively with others.

Please note that SMEEF can only support applications from private companies where there is clear evidence that funds will be used to support benefits for biodiversity and/or ecosystems and where the applicant is able to demonstrate significant in-kind contributions to the project. The main aim of the project cannot be generating profit and you must be able to demonstrate a commitment to community engagement.

What SMEEF will fund

To help ensure funds are as effective as possible, applicants are encouraged to work in partnership and develop budgets which include an element of match funding. Applications for funding 100% of the project will also be considered.

As the fund is designed to support discussion, collaboration, and problem solving, the majority of funds should be used to support revenue or operating costs. Limited capital costs will be considered as part of a wider project, where the need can be clearly demonstrated.

Costs that we will fund include:

  • Staffing costs inclusive of salary, National Insurance and Employee Pension Contributions.
  • Professional fees that are appropriate and proportionate to the project.
  • Travel and subsistence to cover staff and any volunteers supporting the delivery of project activities.
  • The costs of monitoring and evaluating project delivery and success, and disseminating project outcomes and learning.
  • Irrecoverable VAT.
  • Full Cost Recovery expenses under which we will fund a proportionate share of your organisations overheads in addition to direct project costs. Please note that we are unlikely to fund FCR costs which are more than 15% of your total request to SMEEF.

Costs that we will not fund include:

  • SMEEF is unable to fund statutory functions.
  • Annual or routine expenses (e.g. routine monitoring activities)
  • Political activities or campaigning.

Apply now

To access the GMS and create your application to Taking Flight, please select the following link: https://naturescot.flexigrant.com/.

 

Getting in touch 

If you are unsure whether your project could be funded by Taking Flight or have any problems in applying, please reach out and discuss your application with the SMEEF team. You can do this by emailing grants@smeef.scot.

Webinar

SMEEF will be hosting an application webinar on Wednesday 5th August, 9:30 – 10:30 am for

those seeking to apply for round 2 of Taking Flight. You can sign up for this free, bookable webinar through this link.

Thank you

Taking Flight is supported by the Seabird Resilience Fund, which was set up within SMEEF following an investment of £1.6m in voluntary donations from offshore renewable energy developers in the Northeast and East Ornithology Group (NEEOG). This initiative would not be possible without the developers within NEEOG and we thank them for their generous donations. A full list of our contributors can be found here.

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