A coalition of environmental and heritage bodies has launched a billion-pound mission to bring nature into the heart of urban areas in the UK.

The first phase of the NatureTowns and Cities initiative will involve £15.5m being invested in 40 towns and cities across the four nations.

Schemes that will be funded range from the launch of a large regional park to improving micro green spaces on the banks of canals and rivers.

Innovative projects include a “greening permit” scheme allowing citizens to cultivate public spaces, and an “environmental justice map” to pinpoint areas of greatest need.

The mission, billed as the first of its kind, is led by a partnership between the National Trust, Natural England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund, which is providing the £15.5m.

Its ultimate aim is to grow a bigger coalition and attract £1bn from private, philanthropic and public sources by 2035 to give at least 5 million people access to green space a short walk from home and provide 1 million children with an opportunity to play in nature close to their front doors.

Hilary McGrady, the director general at the National Trust, said: “Everyone, everywhere should have easy and local access to nature and green spaces. When 85% of the UK population lives in built-up urban areas, it is our duty to reach them.”

The partnership points out that over the past decade, cuts to local authority spending mean that green spaces have been neglected. Two-thirds of households in England, for example, do not have access to a decent-sized green space within a 15-minute walk of home.

Areas benefiting from the first round of funding include Portsmouth in the south of England, Fife in south-east Scotland and Port Talbot in south Wales.

Ealing in west London will receive almost £1m to ready the borough for the creation of a 586-hectare (1,448-acre) regional park. In Lewisham, south-east London, projects will focus on historically underserved Black, African and Caribbean communities.

A greening permit scheme modelled after “le permis de végétaliser” in Paris is to be launched in Bristol, allowing residents and associations to cultivate public spaces.

In Bradford, West Yorkshire, where life expectancy can differ by 11 years between urban and rural wards, grant money will be used to increase nature-based social-prescribing.

North Lanarkshire in central Scotland will use its new funds to create an environmental justice map, pinpointing areas of greatest need, while in Belfast funds will be spent on initiatives including improving the city’s network of alleys, and areas around its peace walls.

As part of the announcement, Birmingham was declared the UK’s first “nature city” and Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in Dorset (BCP) collectively named the first “nature towns”.

Birmingham and BCP councils received grant funding in 2019 in a precursor programme to Nature Towns and Cities.

BCP has made a series of improvements to green spaces, with just one, Hoburne wildlife pond in Christchurch, a good example of the sort of scheme that, while relatively modest, can make a difference to people’s lives and nature.

More than 50 volunteers and local business people helped create the small pond and a house martin tower designed to provide a nesting site for the migratory bird.

Janna Bloice, the urban greening project manager, said there had been a positive response to the project. Neighbours looked after the pond and it had inspired some to introduce wild areas to their gardens. “People come and spend a few peaceful minutes here. Having access to a little bit of nature makes a huge difference,” she said.