A rewilding project in Yorkshire is being supported by an investment fund. A serial entrepreneur has set up a nature-positive investment company in Scotland and a circular affordable housing company. There are signs that nature restoration is attracting investment.
Broughton Estate in Yorkshire, under the direction of the 32nd generation owner Roger Tempest, have redeveloped derelict agricultural buildings into a successful business park and event venue. Then they started a nature recovery programme to restore woodlands, wetlands, grasslands and meadows. They’ve planted over 330,000 trees, funded by previous grants. The restored habitat attracts curlews, a highly endangered species. They’ve also introduced beavers who have bred – twice. Now they’ve received a grant from Rebalance Earth, an institutional investment platform which will help them to “unlock the next level of rewilding” on the estate (The Guardian).
Rebalance Earth believes that nature restoration can bring financial returns while being of social and environmental benefit. It is big business. The company restores large ecosystems and companies pay for it, to help prevent environmental disasters. Broughton Estate “will also generate income from nature credits, biodiversity net gain (BNG) units and carbon credits linked to long-term carbon sequestration”. For example, property developers who since 2024 have been required to benefit nature with a 10% net gain in biodiversity or habitat, can purchase BNG units from the estate.
Highlands Rewilding, set up by serial entrepreneur Jeremy Leggett allows citizen funders and growth funders – socially progressive financial institutions – to invest in the project. Rewilding brings environmental benefits like woodland planting and peatland restoration. It helps the local community by providing employment opportunities and a feeling of involvement with local land. But it also provides a way to monetise land management. They’re researching ‘natural capital’ and have produced reports on how they will monitor their inventory of carbon and biodiversity.
“Our aim is to use that process to help make nature-based solutions more investible than they currently seem to be, quicker than would otherwise have been the case.” – Highlands Rewilding
In June, Highlands Rewilding formed a new investment company called NatureProsperity which “aims to channel long-term capital into nature recovery” with MAKAR, an affordable timber building company and two other partners (Scottish Housing News). The idea is that woodland is sustainably managed, capturing carbon. The timber is then used to build affordable homes in rural areas, to house the workers involved in biodiversity projects. “Investment flows in, and nature recovery, homes and community benefit flow out.” Money is generated from carbon credits and biodiversity net gain units from the woodlands and profits from the homes sold, which can then be reinvested. It is circular.
The idea that nature restoration can generate financial returns is fairly recent. These projects suggest that restoring ecosystems is the same as building productive infrastructure – which will bring a financial return – rather than being a charity case. By creating revenue streams from biodiversity, carbon, and sustainable land management, these projects are attracting investors who see nature recovery as an attractive long term asset.
There are still questions about how to value natural capital, whether biodiversity credits and carbon credits deliver genuine ethical gains, and how these markets should be regulated (part two coming soon). But if investment can be channelled into projects that restore landscapes, support rural communities and reduce climate risks, this could become a mainstream opportunity for the future.