Milestones

Purchase of Beldorney Estate May 2021

May 2021

Beldorney Estate in Aberdeenshire is purchased (by Solarsanctuary) to become the second outdoor natural capital laboratory. Beldorney is a 349 hectare grassland dominated site, on the banks of the river Deveron, made up of 78% pastureland, with some riparian broadleaf woodland and non-native plantations. (Completed) Highlands Rewilding Ltd incorporated, alongside strategy change June 2021 Highlands Rewilding Ltd (HRL) is initially 100% owned by Jeremy Leggett, but with the intention that it operates Beldorney Estate, buys future estates, and raises equity from co-owners so to do. The decision is taken that Highlands Rewilding will operate both Bunloit and Beldorney and own all of Beldorney except the main residence and grounds for the time being. It would own North Bunloit and, should funds allow, it would also buy South Bunloit after the second fundraising round. Highlands Rewilding begins its operations across both Bunloit and Beldorney by December 2021, and Bunloit Rewilding Ltd is wound down thereafter.

Community meetings

July 2021

Ongoing community conferring at Bunloit and Beldorney. From online outreach during the Covid 19 lockdown to in person discussions, meetings, and “walk and talk” events at each estate, inviting input and feedback from the local communities in which we operate. Team members also attend other council and community meetings, alongside other local events, and update local contacts about our projects.

First Natural Capital Report

November 2021

Following a year of baselining at Bunloit, Highlands Rewilding’s First Natural Capital Report is published during an event held at COP26 in Glasgow. Described as “groundbreaking” for its open source data and findings, the report uncovers some interesting and unexpected conclusions, painting the picture of a verdant estate, replete with healthy woodlands, and lichen communities of international significance, but being a net source of greenhouse-gas emissions, with an estimated average net loss of 240 tCO2e / year.

A series of winter and spring visits

November 2021

From a Scottish Land and Estates Walk at Beldorney to a number of visits to Bunloit, including Kate Forbes MSP, the Highland Biological Recording Group, Royal Scottish Forestry Society, and scientists from Oxford University’s Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery.

Regenerative grazing at Beldorney begins

March 2022

In progress

Working with Grampian Graziers, we begin regenerative grazing improving our grasslands through cattle management to improve soil health and biodiversity. While livestock production is a major source of carbon and methane emissions, and we urgently need to reduce both, the presence of some livestock helps to ensure that natural grassland ecosystems can function effectively and provide multiple benefits. Farmed cattle in appropriate numbers can enable nutrient cycling through consuming, digesting and then dunging and urinating on the land. Optimal levels of disruption, which create habitat for other plants and animals, help keep Beldorney’s grasslands as a mix of species-rich and semi-natural grasslands rather than succumbing to single grass species dominance. Please watch our short video on controlled grazing at Beldorney.

Highlands Rewilding buys Beldorney land and farm

May 2022

Engagement Roadmap published

2023

In Progress

Highlands Rewilding's engagement approach is continuously evolving and improving in collaboration with a range of local communities, groups, and partners. In 2023, we published our Engagement Roadmap (https://www.highlandsrewilding.co.uk/blog/community-engagement-in-rewilding) which sets out the basic principles and main steps we want to embed in our engagement processes. The Engagement Roadmap builds on our ongoing collaboration with the University of Oxford, drawing from guidance published as part of the Nature-based Solutions Knowledge Hub (https://www.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org/news/nbs-knowledge-hub/) and the Recipe for Engagement (https://nbshub.naturebasedsolutionsinitiative.org/governance/).

FIRNS Community Joint Ventures

October 2023

Highlands Rewilding is one of 27 projects to be awarded funding under the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) scheme, co-funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with the Scottish Government and NatureScot. The outcome of this 18 month project will be a series of investment-ready business plans for community joint ventures. The joint ventures will capitalise on environmental improvements from rewilding, and the valuable ecosystem services they generate. They will be a mechanism for involving more people in nature restoration, boosting the economy, skills development, job creation and cohesion in local communities. Read more about this project here.

Community Engagement Event to Discuss FIRNS Joint Ventures

February 2024

Complete

In March we held an event to scope ideas for community joint ventures. You can read about the session in the report on the Supporting Documents page.

Integrating local knowledge into landscape management

June 2024

In Summer 2024, we will be launching a project in collaboration with the University of Oxford on "Integrating local knowledges, perspectives, and values into landscape and ecosystem management". This project aims to collaborate with communities, groups, and partners to incorporate diverse local knowledge into Highland's Rewilding decision-making strategy. This approach will explore how landscape-scale nature recovery can be delivered in ways that maximise meaningful, tangible, and locally situated benefits for people, nature, and climate