ADLnature is a team of dedicated environmental consultants who specialise in the feasibility, funding, delivery, and aftercare of peatland restoration projects.
The organisation has more than 18 years of experience working with estates, farmers, crofters, and communities to conserve, enrich, and protect our treasured landscapes and supported species.
As a team they have delivered the restoration of over 5500 ha of degraded peatland within the Highlands and Islands.
The business says its motivation dates from being a small rural consultancy in 2017 who were looking to build sustainability into their business model.
At that stage peatland restoration was in its infancy and very little knowledge existed within the contractor community locally.
The firm developed a series of relationships over the next few years with experienced upland contractors to develop techniques that helped to underpin many of the working practices seen today.
This ultimately led the business to work closely with Peatland Action on the development of their technical compendium and to date, the firm has restored 5500ha of damaged peatlands, delivered river restoration programmes, supported the creation of high value local job roles in the contracting community, as well as seven new roles at ADL.
Investment has been made in partnership with HIE to grow the skills base through funded post grad positions and has been a key driver in where the business is now.
This is the same team who have helped to deliver net positive outcomes that are focussed on social and ecological responsibility, who have embraced innovative working practices such as AI and Drone technologies, which in the end allows all to leave the world in a better place than we found it.
Previously, mapping inconsistencies in peatland restoration projects led to difficulties in managing funding pathways.
In recent years, the latest technology has been incorporated including the use of in house Drone surveys of all sites to provide robust baseline information to facilitate accurate restoration plans and ongoing annual monitoring of sites.
The firm is also excited by the success of AI technology and are currently developing to accurately map degraded features from their Drone surveys and to monitor ongoing habitat improvement.
Additionally, they collaborated closely with Peatland Action to support the development of the technical compendium, recognising the importance of sharing collective knowledge as the industry matured.
This effort led to lower peatland restoration failure rates and a significant improvement in both the quality and output from contractors.
ADL have sought to develop a nature positive business that is fundamentally sustainable, builds collaborative and innovative working relationships with other businesses and acts as a focal point for key stakeholders to engage with the firm on both practical and strategic levels.
This has helped to underpin positive social and economic changes in rural communities that have come about as a direct result of projects such as the peatland restoration programme for example.
Environmentally they have also delivered regenerative farming projects, upland management support, deer management planning and peatland restoration over the last 18 years.
Thriving ecosystems often need a helping hand and this goes hand in hand with appropriate and structured farming support.
Putting nature back in charge is an intensely collaborative process, and by engaging with specialist local business the firm has not only been able to make ADL more sustainable and efficient, but has helped to redefine working relationships in the contracting community.
New job roles, business growth and a sense we are delivering real and positive changes in the Highlands has empowered a new generation of young highlanders to see that there is a real future in careers in our sector.
Over the last nine years ADL have hosted a significant number of UHI students to develop their work based skills.
The common thread that links students is that they were surprised at the diversity of work the firm is involved in, the places they get to visit and the opportunities offered that give real depth to their experiences.
Individuals are supported to develop real world skills in project management, mapping, photogrammetry and stakeholder engagement for example – all of which not only adds value to the business but gives students that chance to feel that their time at ADL is more than just a series of training sessions.