Highlands Rewilding signs first of its kind deal in Argyll
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Highlands Rewilding and Tayvallich Initiative have signed a first of its kind land management Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to benefit both local community and nature.
Highlands Rewilding have agreed an innovative management approach with the local community at Tayvallich, a newly acquired 1300 ha (3,200 acres) estate in Argyll, working alongside a community of 200+ residents to make nature recovery ethically profitable, and shaping the future of land management in Scotland.
This land area adds to their existing ownership of the Bunloit Estate (1200 acres) near Loch Ness and the Beldorney Estate (860 acres) near Huntly.
The MoU with Tayvallich Initiative, a community body set up to consider options for community land purchase; It is the first of its kind in the rewilding community and forms a broad framework to start a conversation about how nature and the local community can benefit each other.
This memorandum aims to deliver a unique triple-win partnership for community prosperity, nature restoration and the delivery of ethical profit to shareholders.
The Scottish Government says around 1 in every 20 homes in Argyll and Bute is a second home or holiday let, and with house prices rising more in the Highlands and Islands than the whole of Scotland over the last 20 years, rural depopulation has become a significant problem for many in the Highlands and West Coast of Scotland.
Against this depopulation crisis, and that of both Scotland’s highly concentrated pattern of land ownership and spiralling biodiversity loss, this acknowledgement of common interests between Highlands Rewilding and the local Tayvallich community represents a pioneering new approach to land management in Scotland.
As Jeremy Leggett, founder and CEO of Highlands Rewilding Ltd has said: “The model Highlands Rewilding is pursuing is one that can attract investment into nature recovery at the scale desperately needed to halt biodiversity collapse, with community invited to be part of this; second only to that within Community Land Trusts”.
The memorandum includes key agreements such as a no-eviction policy and increased security for tenants on the estate, an undertaking to maintain at least the number of current jobs on the estate, and the application of the Rural Housing Burden on any plots or properties that are sold, with a title condition to use the property as the owner’s primary residence, giving the community the right of pre-emption of future sales.
The blueprint for the estate's management will be created hand in hand with a local management board, which enables community engagement and participation.
The memorandum also includes plans to sell parts of the estate to the community at cost.
This is underway following Tayvallich Initiative’s successful bid to the Scottish Land Fund, set up to enable communities to buy land.
It is hoped that there will also be many opportunities for joint venture micro-enterprises, including for clean energy production, with the community.
A key priority for Highlands Rewilding will be to restore the fragments of Temperate Atlantic Rainforest found at Tayvallich Estate, with their incredibly high levels of biodiversity.
Highlands Rewilding completed purchase of Tayvallich estate on May 16 using funding from its highly successful crowdfunding campaign, joined by private investment and a loan from the UK Infrastructure Bank: the first loan of its kind dedicated to nature recovery in the UK.
The crowdfund raised a closing total of £1.17 million, exceeding its initial target by more than £650,000, bringing more than 800 citizen rewilders, over 40 per cent of whom live in Scotland, on board as co-owners of the mass-ownership company.
Co-Chief Scientist Calum Brown has said, “We will be doing this alongside local people who know and manage the land already.
"Like the rainforests themselves, we can build on local knowledge of these ecosystems that might otherwise be gradually lost, and ensure that these emblematic habitats are recovering because of the people who live and work around them.”
Founder and CEO of Highlands Rewilding, Dr Jeremy Leggett added: “Community engagement is central to all the work we undertake and forms an integral part to the success of nature regeneration and community prosperity.
"We’re delighted to have reached a conclusion with the MoU and look forward to our ongoing work with Tayvallich Initiative and the wider community to develop the best-practice in Scotland."
Martin Mellor, Chair of Tayvallich Initiative, said: “We're pleased that Highlands Rewilding and Tayvallich Initiative have signed a wide-ranging Memorandum of Understanding, which was presented at April Community Meeting in Tayvallich Hall.
"The MoU was warmly welcomed at the meeting.
"It creates an embryonic framework to enable HRL to continue a conversation with the wider community, including establishing a local board that has invited nominations from the wider community.
Chris Purslow, Tayvallich Estate’s longest standing resident, said: “This groundbreaking Memorandum underlines the close understanding that Highlands Rewilding and the Tayvallich Community have built up over the past six months. "We, tenants and residents, are looking forward to a productive relationship with HR over the years to come”.
Highlands Rewilding Ltd (HRL) seeks to help rewild and re-people the Scottish Highlands by increasing carbon sequestration, growing biodiversity, creating green new jobs and generating sustainable profit for purpose.
Dr Leggett, a former scientific director at Greenpeace, bought the 480 ha Bunloit Estate (1,200 acres) near Loch Ness in 2020, following the £117.7 million sale of his firm Solarcentury, which brought solar panels to the mass market.
In 2022, he added the 350 ha Beldorney Estate (860 acres), near Huntly in Aberdeenshire, to Highlands Rewilding’s portfolio which was possible thanks to £7.5m from 50 investors from across the globe.
Highlands Rewilding’s recent crowdfund for nature recovery saw over 750 citizen rewilders become co-owners in this mass ownership company, raising over £1,170,000 for rewilding within this crowdfund alone.
