The Woodland Trust (WT) vision is: “A UK rich in native woods and trees for people and wildlife.” To deliver this, they work across many partnerships to protect and restore that which is valuable, to expand and create new, and to inspire people to stand up for nature.
WT owns and cares for over 1,250 sites covering almost 30,000 hectares (ha) across the UK. As well as precious ancient woodland, wood pasture, venerable ancient trees and newly established wood and scrubland, this also includes other valuable habitats such as flower-rich grasslands, heaths, ponds/lakes and moorland. The majority of sites are small, local woodlands that offer everyday access to nature for millions of people. They are an important link between communities and the natural heritage on their doorstep.
In looking to respond to the nature and climate crises, WT is also looking at how to establish sustainable income sources that meet those challenges in future years and decades. The Nature Markets Exploration project will develop WT’s experience, capacity and capability to explore and assess private finance opportunities.
The 12 month project will pilot Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) projects and assess them against three strands: delivering high conservation standards for nature recovery, income potential and risk, and practical delivery. The learnings from this project will help to inform WTs future approach to BNG, carbon, and other nature markets and income mechanisms.
The pilot is being supported by Elgol Fund for Nature.
All photos courtesy of the Woodland Trust
