We Support The Highlands And Islands
Environment Foundation
As a grant-making charity, HIEF funds projects that fall into four key habitats: montanes, fresh water, marine & coastal,
and forest & woodland.
In montane landscapes, HIEF is working with a network of local farmers and a forestry land Scotland site to put wildlife and biodiversity at the heart of land management at West Loch Ness. In freshwater environments, HIEF is currently supporting projects to reintroduce cranes to the Cairngorms, and to bolster the Highland population of water voles – their numbers having been reduced close to 95 per cent since 1950. In forests & woodlands, HIEF’s active projects are working to conserve Scotland’s remaining temperate rainforests; expand a network of community bird-boxes to bolster Scotland’s avian populations; and to support the regeneration of unique and endangered liverworts, mosses and lichens. On the marine & coastal front, HIEF has awarded grants to uplift projects to restore native oyster populations at Lochaline and in Wester Ross; map and model marine resources; protect crucial marine habitats, including the Argyll Coast & Islands Hope Spot; undergo extensive beach cleans, and much more.
