‘Britain’s Yellowstone’: restoration project aims to take the greed out of land acquisition
Investors in Emblehope Moor will get their financial returns – and then it will be given to community or charity owners
TL;DR
- Emblehope Moor, a 7,500-acre site in Northumberland, is being transformed into England's largest rewilding site under single ownership.
- Restore, a nature restoration company, purchased the land for £8.5m with the aim of reintroducing species like golden eagles, curlews, black grouse, and beavers.
- The project's financial model ensures investors receive returns, after which the site will be handed over to community or charitable ownership.
- Initial restoration tasks involve rewetting desiccated peat moorland and removing non-native sitka spruce plantations.
- The initiative is part of a growing trend of wilding estates in Northumberland, with other large estates also undergoing nature restoration.
- The project will retain the estate's farmer and gamekeeper, valuing their local knowledge and expertise.
- Funding for the transformation will come from conventional income, government payments, and natural capital payments, including carbon credits.
- While lynx reintroduction is discussed in the wider region, Restore has no funded plans for them at Emblehope Moor.