Collaborative Fundraising Project: establishing a new fund for Scotland’s rainforest

The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest has estimated that it will cost around £500m to achieve its overarching aim – to restore all of Scotland’s rainforest and double its size by 2045. This will involve dozens of landscape-scale rainforest restoration projects, lasting at least 10 years, ideally many more. So far there are 11 such projects, affiliated with ASR (known as “ASR Focus projects”) which are in various stages of development and delivery, with others in the pipeline.

There are few opportunities to access the kind of substantial, long-term funding required for these kinds of projects. So ASR has set itself an objective to explore a new kind of finance model, conforming to a set of high integrity quality standards, providing access to substantial and long-term funding, with a view to growing the overall pot and trajectory of funding and building longer-term support for Scotland’s rainforest.

One such idea that is being explored is for ASR partners to work collaboratively to develop a bespoke fund using philanthropic contributions from corporates and/or individuals. This would be a unique/new approach, where we might have multiple private donors contributing to a general rainforest fund that is then distributed to landscape-scale rainforest restoration projects.

Plantlife, RSPB and Woodland Trust are working together, on behalf of the ASR, to scope out such a fund. This fund could be administered through a stand-alone organisation, or via an existing funding body.

Ballachuan hazelwood. Credit John MacPherson

There are three work streams involved:

1. Produce the forecasted cost for full restoration of Scotland’s rainforest, in accordance with ASR’s principles.

2. Scope out an appropriate governance body to administer a future Fund for Scotland’s Rainforest

3. Explore the appetite of potential funders and explore how to engage them.

The project kicked off in August 2025, and the initial work outlined above should be completed by end of March 2026. Once this has been done, the project team will work with other organisations in ASR and other relevant stakeholders to consider whether to, and how to, proceed with implementing such a fund, potentially blending funds with other sources.