National parks announce new nature restoration partnership

National parks announce new nature restoration partnership

Britain’s National Parks join forces with global impact firm Palladium to help secure almost £240 million for vital nature restoration

• £239 million of nature restoration work in National Parks needed by 2030
• Palladium’s expertise in the Amazon and biodiversity projects around the world used to advise on sustainable private/public finance models across the National Parks
• All 15 of the UK’s National Parks are targets for peatland and grassland restoration, woodland planting and management, and habitat creation

26 April, 2021: Supporting the UK government’s world leading climate change target to cut emissions by 78% by 2035, the National Parks have teamed up with global impact firm Palladium to help find £239 million to fund vital restoration work over the next decade for some of the world’s most breath-taking natural landscapes.

This ground-breaking new partnership aligns with the urgent need to support UK nature as part of the response to climate change.

In the run-up to COP26 in November, this collaboration aims to unlock one of the UK’s biggest environmental challenges – creating a sustainable funding model for nature restoration at scale. The National Parks have the knowledge and expertise to develop and deliver conservation and restoration projects on the ground, but to date have struggled to raise the necessary funding.

Palladium, which designs sustainable business models in the Amazon and around the world, is partnering with the National Parks on innovative ways of securing much-needed private and public finance for repairing damaged peatlands and grasslands, woodland planting and management, and habitat creation.

The UK has 15 National Parks – 10 in England, three in Wales and two in Scotland. They are designated as protected landscapes because of their special qualities. The parks offer stunning natural beauty, varied wildlife, and fascinating cultural heritage. Through monetising ecosystem services the partnership will restore nature across the parks, support biodiversity, mitigate climate change, reduce flood risk downstream, improve water quality, and support local job creation.

Gordon Watson, CEO of Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park and current UK lead for National Parks, said: “Our collaboration with Palladium is enabling the UK’s National Parks to shape and strengthen how we can solve some of today’s most pressing environmental challenges. Restoring our landscapes at scale will reduce CO2, mitigate flood risks, enhance biodiversity and help rural economies. We’re excited by the progress we’re already making together with Palladium and plan to announce more in the run up to COP26.”

Christopher Hirst, Palladium Managing Director and CEO, said: “Our partnership with National Parks offers us an exciting opportunity to take our decades of experience working with businesses, government and civil society to design business models that can restore and generate value from nature, and apply them in the UK at a scale that can really make a difference. We are excited to bring lessons from tropical programmes such as Partnerships for Forests (P4F), which has supported 67 sustainable forest business models to date and secured over £250 million of new private investment, while placing over 1 million hectares of land under sustainable use.”

The collaboration between Palladium and National Parks has already generated a range of nature restoration financing pilot projects which have been submitted to funders for support. These pilots will test new models for the delivery of nature-based solutions in different National Parks by generating revenues from ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity gain and water services.

Conversations are taking place with a diverse number of companies interested in getting involved to support this new approach to nature restoration. Summer 2021 will see further consultations with impact investors and companies with announcements on the next stage of development in the run-up to COP26.

-ENDS –

Notes to Editors

For more information, interviews and high-resolution images, contact:

Naomi Conway, 07950392979, naomi.conway@nationalparks.co.uk

Andrew Sutherland, 07598440622 Andrew.sutherland@thepalladiumgroup.com

About UK National Parks

There are 15 National Parks in the UK, covering 10% of Great Britain.  National Parks are visited over 100 million times each year. 2021 sees the 70th Anniversary of the confirmation of the first four National Parks – Peak District, Dartmoor, Lake District and Snowdonia. For more information www.nationalparks.uk

About Palladium

Palladium is a global impact firm, working to link social progress and commercial growth. For the past 54 years, we’ve been helping our clients to see the world as interconnected – by creating strategies, building partnerships, mobilising capital, and implementing programs that have a lasting social and financial impact. We simply call this “Positive Impact”.

We work with corporations, governments, investors, communities, and civil society. With a global network operating in over 90 countries, Palladium is in the business of making the world a better place. www.thepalladiumgroup.com

P4F is funded by UK international climate finance.