<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/06/britain-yellowstone-restoration-project-take-greed-out-land-acquisition>
"It is difficult to find the most remote place in England. There is no public
transport, no roads and no sign of any human habitation. Online route finders
mistakenly direct cars up a grassy track. But miles along gravel forest roads
in the far north of Northumberland is the largest contiguous rewilding site
under single ownership in the country.
The vast glacial bowl of 7,500-acre Emblehope Moor has been bought for £8.5m by
Restore, a nature restoration company that works with landowners across
Britain.
The aim is to bring golden eagles, curlews, black grouse and beavers back to
the moor which in former guises was a traditional grouse shooting and sheep
farming estate and a dog-training ground.
But the restoration project, which is still seeking to raise £4m to fund its
20-year scheme, also has a unique proposition: after delivering new
biodiversity and abundance alongside financial returns for investors and
repaying the crucial £4.5m Triodos Bank loan that enabled the purchase, it will
hand over the site to local community or charitable ownership.
“We want to prove that the bank is paid back, investors get their two-times
return but we don’t need to become the next for ever laird,” said Benedict
Macdonald, an environmental writer and the founder and director of Restore.
“We’re keen to leave a well-funded community project for the future. It’s not
an aggressive land-holding model; it’s both a capitalist and community model
and I want it to become the national model for the uplands – we’ve got to take
the greed out of it for it to work.”"
Via Susan ****
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
