Who we are

The Natur am Byth partnership is Wales’ flagship Species Recovery programme. It unites nine environmental charities with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme to save species from extinction and reconnect people to nature.

Our partnership provides much needed capacity into the natural heritage sector to save threatened species. Working together we are creating a new wave of nature ambassadors and celebrating Cynefin – the distinct natural heritage that underpins communities across Wales. 

Thanks to players of the National Lottery over £4.1m from the Heritage Fund was awarded to the partnership in June 2023.

This need for investment has been recognised by Welsh Government with a commitment to Natur am Byth from the First Minister and cash funding.

Natur am Byth shares the same partners as our species recovery projects in England and Scotland – Back from the Brink and Species on the Edge. Learning from them, along with National Lottery Heritage Fund's evaluation of their work, has been invaluable as we shaped the Natur am Byth programme.

For our 20-year vision we see a future for Wales where:

• people and wildlife flourish together in recovering habitats
• people from all walks of life in Wales will feel that they belong in, enjoy and care for nature
• organisations across the fabric of Welsh society will work together to care for nature and value the benefits their community get from it
• we’ll have a resilient nature conservation, environment and land management sector that collaborates to make a bigger difference for species as part of healthy ecosystems

As a result of our programme we will have:

• put the risks to threatened species on the agenda and shown why it matters
• demonstrated how to save our nation’s most endangered species and helped them to recover through resilient ecosystems
• inspired people in Wales from all walks of life to take action and mobilised diverse communities to care for the wildlife on their doorstep
• helped a new wave of conservation ambassadors and practitioners to emerge
• collaborated to find solutions to the most pressing issues for species conservation in Wales

Funders

The partnership has budgeted total programme costs at £8m.

Thanks to players of the National Lottery we have secured £4.1m delivery phase funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund.

NRW has contributed £1.7m and the Natur am Byth partners have secured a further £1.4m from Welsh Government, Arts Council of Wales and a number of charitable trusts, foundations and corporate donors.  These include donations from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and significant support from Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Natural Resources Wales

Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme

Arts Council of Wales

Esmée Fairbairn Foundation

Welsh Government