A NEW £1 million initiative has been launched to help communities across Gloucestershire protect threatened green spaces and wildlife sites.

The scheme, backed by a £1 million grant from The Summerfield Charitable Trust, will provide funding and expert support when communities have opportunities to bring land into community ownership or secure it for nature.

Developed by the Gloucestershire Nature + Climate Fund and Gloucestershire Local Nature Partnership, the initiative aims to help groups act quickly when valued fields, woodlands or wildlife sites come onto the market.

Communities can face competition from private buyers and developers while having only weeks to organise, raise funds, seek professional advice and submit an offer.

Support will include repayable "patient" grants, giving groups time to fundraise before money is returned to the fund and used again. Emergency grants will also be available in some circumstances, particularly for disadvantaged communities.

Groups will be able to access grants to help establish themselves alongside ecological, organisational and legal advice.

Projects will be assessed partly against Gloucestershire's Local Nature Recovery Strategy, published in February, which identifies areas where protecting and connecting habitats could have the greatest impact.

The initiative will also consider access to nature, with deprivation and tree coverage data used to identify communities where investment could bring social, health and wellbeing benefits.

Diane Hill OBE DL, chair of the Gloucestershire Nature + Climate Fund, said the funding would help communities respond when important land became available.

She said: "Once an important green space is lost, it can be lost for good."

Forest of Dean District Council is represented within the fund by its head of environment and sustainability, Alastair Chapman, who is one of its directors.

Money returned through repayable grants and lease payments will be recycled to support future projects, with organisers hoping the investment creates a lasting legacy of community-protected land across Gloucestershire.