Our flagship portfolio

The Ocean Community Empowerment and Nature (OCEAN) Grants Programme is a UK Government competitive grants programme supporting locally led projects that protect the marine environment and reduce poverty in ODA-eligible countries. Funded through the UK’s Blue Planet Fund and managed by Defra, OCEAN offers Community Grants of up to £250,000 and Partnership Grants of between £500,000 and £3 million. Following its first two funding rounds, the programme has awarded 34 projects across 19 countries and committed more than £25.6 million in funding. NIRAS acts as the Grant Administrator, delivering end-to-end fund management, including outreach and applicant support, assessment and selection, contracting, financial management, safeguarding, risk management, monitoring, evaluation and learning, and programme communications. Through accessible application processes and tailored support, OCEAN enables locally based organisations and international partnerships deliver inclusive, context-specific solutions for sustainable ocean management and improved livelihoods.

NIRAS leads the Programme Management, Support and Services Team (PMSST) to help the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) execute the FGMC2 programme. The programme has two key objectives:

• Reduce the illegal and unsustainable use of forest resources, while benefitting poor, forest-dependent people, especially indigenous people and local communities (IPLCs).
• Promote sustainable growth in developing countries, supporting them to trade their way out of poverty by changing the way forest products are bought and sold across the globe, establishing forest stewardship to reverse forest and biodiversity decline.

In our role of PMSST, NIRAS is providing strategic and technical advice to FCDO and FGMC’s delivery partners and developing/overseeing FGMC’s monitoring, evaluation and learning functions. Day-to-day, we are managing and overseeing an accountable grant fund and ensuring oversight and coherence across all components of the programme, which include:

• Component I: Partnerships with tropical producer countries to establish national rules-based systems that ensure good forest land governance with a fair distribution of the costs and benefits (timber, agricultural commodities, mining, carbon and biodiversity payments) from the ownership and management of forest to owners and managers or indirectly as public goods.
• Component II: Alliances with consumer countries to close markets to trade in illegal and unsustainable products through import regulations, public and private procurement policies and rewards for trade from countries with effective legality assurance systems in place.
• Component III: Global policy engagement to establish a positive international framework (understanding and norms) to prohibit trade in illegal and unsustainable material and recognise andincentivise national forest stewardship with international rules that place governance at the heart of schemes/investment strategies.

The Scottish Government's Global Solidarity Fund is a new grants fund that builds on the previous Small Grants Programme, which supported small Scottish-based civil society organisations. The overall aim of the Global Solidarity Fund is to strengthen small organisations, engage the public, and support locally led development through small Scottish-based CSOs, social enterprises, and local groups working on a not-for-profit basis.

The Fund is delivered through three grant types: Scottish CSO Strengthening Grants, which support organisational development and capacity strengthening for small Scottish-based civil society organisations working in international development; Global Citizenship Engagement Grants, which support activities that increase public understanding of global issues and encourage engagement with international development and global citizenship in Scotland; and Shifting the Power Grants, which support locally led development by providing flexible funding to locally based organisations and communities in partner countries.

The Scottish Government contracted NIRAS to be the Fund Manager. We are responsible for the day-to-day administration and management of the Fund, including monitoring, evaluation and learning activities, and facilitating peer exchange and networking.

Biodiversity Challenge Funds (BCFs) is the collective name for three of the UK Government's competitive grants, Darwin Initiative, Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) Challenge Fund, and Darwin Plus, aimed at conserving biodiversity and safeguarding the environment for local people.NIRAS acts as the fund administrator for all three funds and is responsible for managing applications, expert groups, projects, finances, monitoring, evaluation, and learning, building capability and capacity of grantees, communications, and contract management.

The Darwin Initiative supports communities to find just, scalable, and sustainable ways to conserve and restore nature while growing their economies and reducing poverty. The IWT Challenge Fund is a grants scheme that provides support to innovative and scalable projects to reduce pressure on wildlife from illegal trade and, in doing so, reduce poverty in developing countries. Darwin Plus (also known as The Overseas Territories Environment and Climate Fund) helps deliver long-term strategic outcomes for the unique biodiversity, the natural environment and improving resilience to climate change within the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs).

A strong feature of Darwin and IWTBCF projects is the involvement of partners within host communities and lasting benefits from the project. The initiative draws upon international expertise and supports projects of high quality and scientific excellence through research, training and capacity building. Whenever possible, Darwin funding will be used as a catalyst to lever additional funding for non-state actor project work, which would not otherwise be forthcoming.