Why Highlands Rewilding is an excellent ethical investment option

Leggett, a former scientific director of the climate campaign at Greenpeace and a prolific author on the climate crisis,  points out that the £1 million target figure is just the start.

He and his team at Highland Rewilding are seeking to persuade major institutions such as pension and investment funds to pour billions of pounds into rewilding projects.

He argues that these projects have the potential to be profitable while rejuvenating whole swathes of Scotland, as well as bringing jobs and prosperity to local communities. Rewilding, Leggitt argues, has the potential to help Scotland achieve its ambitious net zero carbon targets.

“By transforming carbon sources into carbon sinks through planting more native woodlands and enhancing and restoring the natural ecosystems of the Highlands, we can help the government hit both their climate and biodiversity targets,” he argues.

Leggett is quite clear that the Scottish government’s willingness to invest substantially in rewilding is absolutely key to making rewilding profitable for large investors. This is particularly so on the scale that Leggett and his team envisage. Crowdfunding will take things only so far.

Cattle grazing and regen ag at Beldorney

At the same time, he is very aware that these projects have to be able to gain widespread support from the local communities around these projects. “We can’t be just another land colonist. Scotland has suffered enormously from land colonists in the past. Our company has set out from the beginning to bring local communities along with us and to show them that rewilding can be a source of profit and jobs for locals,” he comments.

“Our purpose is to enable nature recovery and community prosperity through rewilding, as a mass ownership company,” he says.

Leggett reckons that if his business model proves successful on a larger scale, Highland Rewilding will achieve its aim of becoming one of the most impactful accelerators of nature-based solutions in the world within the next three or four years.

The company’s first project involved the Bunloit Estate, which it bought in February 2020. Legget says that after a year of scientific studies and another carrying out baseline surveys on the variety of habitats on the estate, work is now underway to develop the best land management model for rewilding the estate.

The Beldorney Estate was its second project. The estate has overgrazed pastures and coniferous plantations as well as broadleaf woods along the River Deveron. Leggett says that the company aims to restore the estate through regenerative agriculture, native woodland creation and by restoring ruined crofts on the estate.

“We now have a limited opportunity, which ends on 28 February, to acquire the Tayvallich estate as well. We have already raised £7.6 million of equity funding. If we can raise another £12 million we will be in a position to buy Tayvallich. The three estates together would be a powerhouse for Scottish nature recovery. They would also be a beacon of hope for the Montreal Global Biodiversity Treaty, which was recently signed by more than 200 governments around the world,” he comments.

 The company’s crowdfunding has an aspirational return target for investors of 5%, annualised over the course of 10 years.

“We are very optimistic that our goals are achievable, both for the estates we already manage and as far as our aspirations to make Highland Rewilding into a global example of what rewilding can achieve,” Leggett comments.

He points out that the Montreal biodiversity treaty was itself a critical milestone in bringing about the kind of transformation that he and his team are focused on.

“The Treaty proposes a fundamental sea change in the way land management should be rewarded, going forward. I am very confident that there is a great deal going on behind closed doors right now to bring about a transformation in the rewards and support systems for agriculture, farming and land management,” he says.

Bunloit Peatland

At present, Leggett says, Scotland is lagging behind England in bringing out laws to enact these kinds of changes. Westminster announced that from the end of the current Parliament, it will replace the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Instead of paying CAP-style payments based on how much land is farmed, the new policy will pay farmers and land managers on a ‘public goods’ basis. The term ‘public goods’ is being defined as a blend of environmental and animal health improvements that farmers and landowners make.

The Agriculture Act 2020 provides a legal framework for the UK Government and there is no doubt that it sets out very different approaches to supporting agriculture.

The Scottish government is still thinking through what this could mean for Scotland. However, from the discussions he has had with ministers and others involved, Leggett is convinced that the results are very likely to be highly supportive of the kinds of rewilding schemes that are at the centre of what Highlands Rewilding is doing.

“We believe that our projects will be profitable for investors through rewards for natural capital credit, based on scientifically measured biodiversity gains, and the carbon credits our schemes are generating. So far we are managing 860 hectares. We would like to extend that very considerably once we get serious backing from pension funds and other major investors,” he concludes.

To find out more or to make a pledge visit the website www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk

• Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more: invest.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/risk-warning 

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