In the spirit of Nature day at COP26, major global companies including Santander UK, Gatwick, The Estée Lauder Companies, Southern Co-op and Capita have come together to work with the UK’s network of National Parks to finance restoration projects.
The UK’s National Parks and Palladium have announced Revere – a nature restoration project development facility – with support from major global companies and government agencies.
Initial private sector funders include financial services provider Santander UK, Gatwick Airport, The Estée Lauder Companies, Capita and Southern Co-op. Additional funding has been secured from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and DEFRA.
Revere has been developed to enable the restoration of natural habitats at scale with private capital. Revere designs restoration projects with National Parks teams and land managers and raises private capital to fund the restoration. The projects generate revenue through the sale of ecosystem services, creating new income streams for farmers and landowners seeking to improve the quality of landscapes and support biodiversity.
Revere will channel funding into several pilots across the National Parks including:
- The restoration of degraded peatland in the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland which will generate revenues for landowners as well as creating verified carbon credits, with the support of Santander UK.
- The conversion of hundreds of acres of arable farmland in the South Downs National Park to woodland pasture. The restoration will be funded through the sale of carbon, biodiversity and water quality outcomes and is being supported by Gatwick and Southern Co-op.
- Farmers in the Esk Valley in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park are working to restore habitats and deliver natural flood defence improvements.
- In the New Forest National Park, arable land is being restored to woodland to generate nitrate reduction and improvements in biodiversity.
Jose Maria Ortiz, Palladium Managing Director said: “Taking effective action on climate change is urgent. In the short term, the answer is nature, while in the long term we need innovation. In both cases, investment at scale is necessary. There isn’t time for small-scale interventions anymore. The time is now for bold investments in nature with potential risks, because the alternative is continuing to destroy our planet.”
