Your FAQs answered
edie’s Sustainability Uncovered podcast discovers some of the most inspiring and insightful sustainability and climate action stories from across the globe. In this epidsode edie’s content editor, Sarah George speaks with NPP’s Head of Nature-based Solutions Holly Story alongside Nick Heasman at the South Downs National Park.
The duo answer some of your FAQ about getting involved in large-scale nature restoration and conservation projects, including how to credibly use nature and carbon credits. They also share their views on how vitally important additional funding for UK nature can be unlocked at this crucial time.
Takeaways
- Allocated public funding to achieve set targets isn’t enough for us to deliver the required results
- UK is the second largest importer of timber globally
- We don’t work on land aquisition, we work with landowners and farmers to ensure they benefit
- Forward purchase credits allow businesses to secure the carbon credits now, that they will need in the future
- ‘Green finance will pay us double’ with ROI on our money and the planet
South Downs Woodland Carbon Project
The South Downs National Park stretches across 1,648 sq. km of rolling chalk grassland and lowland heath in the South East of England, receiving nearly 40 million visitors a year. The South Downs National Park has set an ambitious target for 33% of its area to be managed for nature by 2030 through its ReNature initiative. This includes the planting of hundreds of thousands of new trees, creating connected corridors of biodiverse woodland across the landscape.
With ambitious targets in place, funding at a new scale is clearly needed. The South Downs National Park team wanted to find a way to accelerate and deliver a landscape-scale woodland planting initiative in line with their local vision, that is suitable for private finance. This meant creating a model that would not only deliver landscape changes that meet the highest ecological standards, but also one that can offer a competitive, verified and secure livelihood opportunity for national park land managers and farmers. Retaining existing landownership is central to the Revere approach.
Working with the Revere team is a way to bring this nature ambition closer to reality. After several years of collaboration between the South Downs, Revere and local farmers and land managers, the first phase of the South Downs Woodland Project is now ready for ethically aligned investment.