Tellus Natural Capital Launch Event: Shaping the Future of Natural Capital in the Uplands
In early autumn 2021 Tellus Natural Capital Ltd invited landowners, scientists, politicians and others interested in upland management to an official launch event with the theme “Shaping the Future of Natural Capital in the Uplands”.
Ian Coghill, author of “Moorland Matters” and past Chairman of the GWCT, spoke about the role that landowners can and should play in contributing to the debate on natural capital. He pointed out that Government cannot deliver its aims of enhancing biodiversity without the private landowners who manage the majority of our uplands and noted that conservation bodies have, until now, been much better at securing both funding and publicity for their work than the private sector. He urged the landowners in the room to work together to demonstrate the positive benefits of moorland management to society.
“Landowners need to work together
to deliver public goods”
Ian Coghill
The theme of working together was developed by Teresa Dent CBE, Chief Executive of the GWCT, who explained how her organisation has supported and developed the concept of Farmer Clusters, where groups of farmers and landowners work together to deliver environmental improvements at a landscape scale. Wildlife did not respect estate boundaries, she noted, and in order to improve species abundance we need to be bolder in our ambitions. The GWCT is now developing a huge cluster of landowners and farmers in the Avon Valley in Hampshire, with waders as a key focus for the work.
Kate Russell of Tellus Natural Capital then explained how the business plans to support landowners by helping them to identify and understand their natural capital assets, then aggregating those assets into projects which would attract funding from the private or public sector. In the uplands, such projects might include peat restoration, flood mitigation measures or biodiversity net gain, for example. She said that by working together, landowners would have the scale necessary to undertake survey work, engage with the investment sector and, importantly, to engage with politicians and policy makers to ensure that the landowner voice is heard in the natural capital debate. Kate invited anyone interested in being part of a North Pennines upland group pilot scheme to let her know.
Dr. Renée Kerkvliet-Hermans, Peatland Code Co-ordinator for IUCN, was sadly unable to join us on the night, but her presentation “An Introduction to the Peatland Code” can be accessed on YouTube.
Over dinner our guests continued the conversation about how they could help to shape the future of natural capital in the uplands before Viscount Ridley, journalist, landowner and member of the House of Lords, summed up the debate on this timely and important subject and thanked all who attended for making it such an interesting evening.
If you are interested in being part of a North Pennines upland group, please contact Kate for further information: kate@tellusnatcap.com.
14th October 2021