Investment in land and nature restoration at Far Ralia
At the SLE Annual Conference earlier this year, one of our case study video segments examined the purchase of Far Ralia by abrdn Property Income Trust Limited in September 2021.
In a new blog, Jason Baggaley, Investment Manager at abrdn, explains the decision to invest in land and nature restoration and what the long-term ambitions are at Far Ralia.
The UK commercial property sector is a significant contributor to climate change, responsible for around a quarter of all carbon emissions. Fund managers have a vital role in improving the carbon footprint of the buildings they own, by bringing energy efficiency measures, installing renewable energy sources and improving building materials, but these activities will not be enough to realise net zero on their own.
Assessing a building’s environmental, social and governance credentials has become part and parcel of abrdn Property Income Trust’s approach. Tenants increasingly use it as part of their decision-making process. We have upgraded our property assets where possible, with carbon emissions, staff welfare and biodiversity as key considerations in our refurbishments.
However, we recognise the need to go further and faster. These upgrades often cannot happen fast enough to achieve our net zero ambitions. And, despite the significant improvements we have made to our assets to reduce their impact on the environment, they will always have some residual unavoidable emission. To address this, we have embarked on a pioneering nature-based removal strategy. We concluded that some measure of carbon offsetting was necessary. We wanted a UK based, high quality solution. With this in mind – and in consultation with in-house experts – we embarked on an exciting and ambitious ecological improvement project.
Far Ralia
We ultimately found the 1,400 hectare Far Ralia site in Badenoch. It is non-productive open moorland, having previously been used for grouse shooting and stalking. We have worked extensively with our Scottish forestry partner, Akre, to create a planting schedule for close to 1.5 million trees, one of the largest native woodland projects in Scotland. Using a combination of natural regeneration and planting native broadleaf trees and Scots Pine, the woodland has been designed to emulate a native Caledonian forest.
Akre has undertaken seed collection from the site to ensure the provenance and genetic integrity of the woodland. The trees from these seeds are being grown in the firm’s carbon-negative nursery in Fife, before returning them to the site over the next few years. Ultimately, there will be woodland across 850 hectares. As part of the project, we will also restore 150 hectares of degraded peatland. Peatlands store vast quantities of carbon, an estimated 3.2 billion tonnes in the UK alone.
We have pioneered the use of the Natural History Museum’s Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) to inform our land use change. This tool assesses the land and gives it a score between 0 and 100, 0 being a car park and 100 being a rich and untouched habitat. The land at Far Ralia is currently sitting between 30 and 40 on the BII. The land use changes we have begun and outlined in our project roadmap will push the BII to 94 over 100 years. This more than surpasses the planetary boundary of 80 and helps us demonstrate the co-benefit to biodiversity of our design.
Planned work
The fund has undertaken comprehensive baseline surveys of flora and fauna, and the planting plan is very much designed to enhance what already exists. The baseline plan has changed to accommodate ground-nesting birds; areas where existing woodlands allow natural regeneration; a suitable buffer between planting and deep peat to keep trees off regenerating bog; and identifying specific sites for montane scrub establishment and the planting of the more specialist trees and shrubs such as aspen, oak and juniper. Regular survey and measurement will be carried out throughout.
The peatland restoration will entail blocking any drains as well as reforming the peat mass where necessary. The intention is to rewet and revegetate the bog surface so peat can start accumulating again.
A new bothy awaits planning consent; this will replace the existing structure, which is in poor repair. We hope the new bothy will draw the public on to the estate and act as a focal point for visitors and improve accessibility and transparency. The team is working with Akre on what can be done here (and potentially at appropriate points on the estate boundary) to interpret the fund’s aims to ensure visitors understand how and why the estate is being managed in this way.
Every effort is being made to ensure the planting is a success. We’re using inverted turf mounding to enhance sapling recruitment, reduce disturbance and retain a ‘natural’ visual aspect. Deer management strategy is being brought into line with our neighbour to the east where there will be no protective fencing. Many trees and shrubs grow better with a fungal partner in the soil which provides better access to nutrients and helps protect against disease and shock from cold, flooding, pests etc. As a result, we are considering introductions of mycorrhizal fungi and appropriate plant partners like bearberry to improve the survival prospects of the saplings.
Once the peatland restoration work is complete and the tree plantings established, representatives of the respective Carbon Codes will assess the schemes and verify the carbon units.
Getting started
After a year of careful consultation, design work and obtaining the necessary approvals, we are ready to start work. Inevitably, there will be some disruption with heavy machinery on site in the short-term, but we hope to keep this to a minimum. The work is starting with improvement to the access tracks and installing a new bridge to protect the historic one, plus a fencing project on one of the boundaries.
We recognise that the prospect of a large asset management group intervening in the natural landscape is a worry for some local residents. We are keen to reassure them that we have taken the very best advice to enhance and regenerate the landscape, while improving access to the hill for the local population. We believe business and government need to work together with local communications to deliver ecological change sensitively and want to play a role in shifting the economy from extractive to regenerative.
Change can be difficult and needs to be done with the region’s best interests at heart. This is our goal at abrdn Property Income Trust and this project should bring long-term benefits to the wider community through reforestation, improved air quality, flood mitigation and improved biodiversity - important for both the region and for the planet.
Comments