Fife Coast & Countryside Trust

Fife Coast & Countryside Trust (FCCT) have a mission to connect environment and people.

We aim to achieve this by creating a healthier environment that supports wellbeing and sustains the balance between people and the natural world.

We drive strategic environmental conservation efforts across Fife through the development of local and regional policy and procedures, as well as engaging directly in conservation activities.

We build partnerships and seek funding to deliver conservation action on the ground to support Fife’s biodiversity and address the climate and nature emergencies.

We believe that supporting the transition to regenerative systems that benefit nature, people, and the economy will allow us to tackle environmental and social crises at the local and regional level.

The Dreel Burn Investment Readiness project was born out of the Anstruther Improvements Association’s 'Dreel Burn Project' and FCCT’s call to action for a 'Nature Finance Fife'.

The ethos and approach is highly collaborative, bringing together community, 3rd sector delivery partners, local authority, land managers, regulators, corporates, investors, academia, scientific advisors, and specialist advisors, to understand the motivations, barriers, and desired outcomes of all parties. And to put in place the mechanisms and frameworks required to remove barriers and realise those aspirations.

FCCT has been the driver behind this approach in Fife and sees this as a priority if we are to affect the level of change required to regenerate nature, our communities, and the local economy.

We have committed to leading this programme of work and supporting partners throughout the process. We are doing this to achieve that working model in the Dreel Catchment, with the aspiration to develop working partnerships across every water catchment in Fife, whilst offering our learning and acquired expertise beyond the county lines.

Through this work we will also be able to provide sustainable and resilient funding to continue the work of FCCT. We recognise that high integrity private finance must be mobilised if we are to meet the scale of these challenges. This project will, by its design, take us closer to achieving these aims.