More than £3 million of Heritage Lottery Fund will help conserve two diverse landscapes in the region.
The distinctive volcanic landscape of the Lomond Hills in Fife has been awarded £1.71m while the silvery Tay near Perth has received £1.43m through the fund’s landscape partnership programme.
The Tay Landscape Partnership Scheme, led by Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust and Perth and Kinross Heritage Trust, covers an area rich in biodiversity, agriculture, archaeology and history and will see more than 40 organisations deliver 29 projects.
Bob Ellis, chairman of Perth and Kinross Countryside Trust, said: “I cannot stress enough how exciting this news is for Perthshire.”
Meanwhile. the Living Lomonds focuses on an area of Fife taking in the Lomond Hills and contrasting communities to the north and south, including Falkland and historic mining communities.
Fife Coast and Countryside Trust chief executive Amanda McFarlane said five new posts would be created to support communities and partners to deliver the work.
Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Scotland Colin McLean said: “Our species and habitats are under constant threat.
“Recent reports such as State of Nature launched by Sir David Attenborough, and the Scottish Government’s 2020 Challenge for Scotland’s Biodiversity plan, highlight the need to act now if we are to protect our biodiversity and the massive contribution it makes to our economy.”
Over the past six years, HLF has been helping protect some of Scotland’s most treasured landscapes, from Scapa Flow in Orkney to the Ochil hills of central Scotland, to the Solway coast and river valleys.