Colombian rainforest experts find common ground with the New Forest

RAINFOREST met the New Forest when Colombian environmental specialists swapped knowledge with local conservationists about a new way of supporting large-scale nature restoration projects.

Members of the national park authority were joined by representatives from Colombian non-government organisation Terrasos on a recent visit to the Cadland Estate, near Fawley, where a new investment model is being trialled.

Mariana Sarmiento, founder and general manager of Terrasos, said: "One of the key things about the habitat banking projects we’re involved in is that they’re mostly being created in areas that are under-represented within the national park system.

"We’re able to bring in private investment for setting up projects and then we sell biodiversity credits."

The visitors saw the restoration programme on the Cadland Estate of areas where gravel had been extracted over a 200-year period and work to link together fragments of heathland.

The programme aims to capture carbon which contributes to climate change, promote biodiversity and limit harmful nitrogen from going into the Solent.

As reported in the A&T, it is part of a new investment model of restoring nature in which the NPA was awarded £100,000 last year for a trial.

It is working with Palladium, a company specialising in identifying innovative solutions to environmental issues.

The pilot project involves working with Forestry England and the Cadland and Barker-Mill estates to identify where arable farmland and low-quality grasslands could be turned into woodlands and wetlands.

Th aim is to boost flora and fauna as well as capturing carbon and improving water quality.

The NPA's head of environment and rural economy, Paul Walton, said: "The model, funded by the government’s Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund, will help create a green market for environmental services and will stimulate private sector funding for nature improvements in the national park."

There are several emerging private finance markets funding nature restoration in the UK which are designed to ensure like-for-like compensation results.

The accompanies legislation which, when it comes into force in late 2023, will require housing developers to compensate for any biodiversity loss they cause and fund a minimum of 10% gain elsewhere.

Palladium's project development associate Ashley Gillian said it was "fantastic" to hear how the biodiversity payment market was transforming farmers’ lives in Colombia to such a successful level that they had expanded tenfold.

She added: "If we could introduce such a scheme in the UK not only are you benefitting biodiversity and helping bring it back from crisis point, you’re also allowing farmers and land managers to confidently see a financial future in this changing subsidy environment."