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Around 3,000 hectares of degraded land in the north of England – roughly equivalent to 4,200 football pitches – is set to be restored for nature after a major conservation project secured vital funding. 

The ambitious initiative to rewild the Emblehope and Burngrange Estate (pictured) in Northumberland has long been a dream for Restore, the nature restoration company. This week, its mission took a huge step forward after raising almost £9m to buy the site, with some funding coming from the purpose-led bank Triodos UK. 

A key focus of the project is rewetting the estate’s degraded peatlands, which Restore says will act as a vital carbon sink while supporting biodiversity and reducing flooding. The project also seeks to deliver social and economic benefits, partly through the introduction of low-intensity grazing.

“What has long been missing from the English uplands is a large-scale site dedicated primarily to the most ambitious forms of nature restoration,” said Benedict Macdonald, founder and director of Restore. 

“Whilst many upland estates, farms and forestry benefit from nature as a side-product of commercial activity, Emblehope is destined to become a biosphere-level reserve where nature itself is the driver.”

Image: Emblehope estate. Credit: Grays