Scottish Land & Estates expands natural capital team

Press Release

Rural business organisation Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has appointed Laura Ferrier to boost its natural capital services and advice for land managers in Scotland.
Laura joins SLE as Policy Adviser (Natural Capital), with a particular focus on carbon codes, compliance requirements, private finance and establishing baselines for natural capital evaluation.
Laura Ferrier said: “I have a keen interest in environmental work and ecosystem health. Scottish land managers are at the forefront of biodiversity improvement and active habitat conservation, and are key stakeholders in natural capital initiatives and policy. It will be a huge pleasure to work alongside the rest of the team at this exciting time in the natural capital sector.”
Eleanor Kay, Senior Policy Adviser (Agriculture And Climate Change) at SLE commented: “We are delighted to welcome Laura to the team, at a time when interest in natural capital is growing. Many of our members are already engaged in large-scale nature restoration projects, including peatland and rainforest recovery, woodland expansion, river re-meandering and wetland creation. Land managers are keen to do more of this work, but there is a need for clarity on various aspects of current policy and the complexities of taxation and liability. Clearer frameworks and standards are needed to ensure these emerging markets are accessible, transparent and aligned with public goals in order to create rural jobs and ensure long-term financial sustainability.”
Laura grew up in Fife and is now based in Edinburgh. She has degrees in geography and food security, specialising in emerging sustainable food systems and managing climate impacts of ecosystems. 
Before joining Scottish Land & Estates, Laura worked in the charity sector, managing and implementing community, environmental and educational work, undertaking projects such as river restoration work and developing climate education programmes for schools.
Scottish Land & Estates is working with the Scottish government to develop the Ecosystem Restoration Code (ERC), a new market mechanism for attracting responsible private investment into nature restoration and biodiversity projects.