New rewilding charity to tap crowdfunding to purchase and restore depleted land

A new charity with ambitions to become a “rewilding landowner” is planning to use crowdfunding to buy ecologically depleted land and return it to its natural state. Officially launched yesterday, Heal hopes to buy former farms on lower-grade land in the UK and eventually reintroduce grazing cattle, ponies, pigs, and deer to ensure a mix of different habitats.

The charity plans to establish a foundation project of around 500 acres (200ha) in southern England within two years. The first step – which Heal hopes to replicate in subsequent locations – will require “up to £7m” in funding. Existing buildings will be transformed into learning spaces where the general public and professionals can learn about rewilding, gardening for wildlife, growing food, and other sustainability topics.

An individual donation of £20 will enable Heal to buy three metres squared of land. Each donation will eventually be linked to a specific patch of land, whose rewilding will be monitored through drone photographs accessible to donors online or via an App. Added to its crowdfunding push, Heal intends to seek support from companies and charitable foundations and intends to explore its eligibility for the Nature for Climate Fund, the £640m package unveiled in the government’s recent Budget to support tree planting, afforestation, and peatland restoration programmes in England.

The charity was launched as the government yesterday kicked off the second round of its £10m Urban Tree Challenge, which provides funding for community and volunteer groups, town councils, and individuals interested in increasing tree numbers in England’s towns and cities. The programme aims to encourage the planting of more than 130,000 trees. Thirteen large-scale projects, comprising 50,000 trees, were awarded funding in round one.

But in less rosy news for the UK’s trees, The Times reported yesterday that government delays on long-promised woodland creation measures would result in “record destruction” of oak seedlings. The publication noted that nursery owners were set to kill 750,000 young oak trees, because of lack of demand from landowners who have deferred planting efforts until more lucrative woodland subsidy regimes are in place.

Source: Business Green