Restore’s Emblehope Moor Project Blends Capital Returns with Community Conservation

Restore, a nature-restoration company, purchased the 7,500-acre Emblehope Moor in Northumberland for £8.5 million. The site, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest previously used for grouse shooting, sheep farming and dog-training, is slated for a 20-year rewilding scheme. The plan includes re-wetting peat, removing non-native Sitka spruce, and re-introducing native fauna such as golden eagles, curlews, black grouse and beavers. After the ecological work and repayment of a £4.5 million Triodos Bank loan, ownership is intended to pass to a local community or charitable group.

The Guardian

Initial actions focus on restoring hydrology: hidden drainage has left the peatland dry, and modelling suggests the rewetted peat could store an additional 100,000 cubic metres of water—roughly the volume of 40 Olympic swimming pools. Exmoor ponies will be introduced to thin dense “thatch” grass, reducing fire risk and improving conditions for curlew chicks. Selective removal of Sitka spruce will create broad-leaved screens to limit wind-blown seed, while patches of older trees will be retained to support species such as long-eared owls and crossbills. The farmer and gamekeeper remain on staff to provide local expertise.

The Guardian

Restore aims to fund the transformation through a mix of conventional forestry income, livestock grazing, limited eco-tourism, and government environmental land-management payments. The majority of projected revenue is expected from natural-capital mechanisms, including carbon-credit sales for restored blanket bog and “30 × 30 Restore units” where corporations sponsor 30-metre-by-30-metre habitat patches. The company is still seeking £4 million to complete the financing plan.

The Guardian

Beyond ecological outcomes, the project is positioned as a hybrid capitalist-community model. By repaying the bank loan, delivering a two-times return to investors, and ultimately transferring the land to community ownership, Restore seeks to demonstrate an alternative to traditional large-scale landholding.

The Guardian

• “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,” — Benedict Macdonald, an environmental writer and the founder and director of Restore

The Guardian

• “We’re not the size of Yellowstone but we’re in England’s largest wild landscape by a long factor,” — Benedict Macdonald, an environmental writer and the founder and director of Restore

The Guardian

• “It’s going to be a massive exercise to identify the exits of water from the land,” — Macdonald. In

The Guardian

• “We have no funded plans for lynx, and we have no wish to be in the reintroduction party,” — Benedict Macdonald, an environmental writer and the founder and director of Restore

The Guardian

• “What surprises me is how surprised people are that we’ve retained staff who know so much about the land,” — Benedict Macdonald, an environmental writer and the founder and director of Restore

The Guardian

• “It’s perfectly natural for large corporates to sponsor big sporting events across the world. In nature, in England, this is a big event.” — Benedict Macdonald, an environmental writer and the founder and director of Restore

The Guardian