Loch Lomond and The Trossachs Countryside Trust: Investigating the green finance investment potential of Wild Strathfillan
Green finance investment potential of Wild Strathfillan
Wild Strathfillan, a large-scale nature restoration project led by The Loch Lomond and The Trossachs Countryside Trust, spans nearly 50,000 hectares within the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park. The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) funded project aims to revitalise the landscape and protect Strathfillan's vital habitats. In partnership with over 30 stakeholders, land managers and NGOs, Wild Strathfillan aims to establish a robust nature recovery network that enhances habitat connectivity and benefits the local community.
Project
Accelar worked with Land Use Consultants (LUC) and Ric Eales to explore the green finance investment potential of the Wild Strathfillan landscape. The team conducted research and analysis which allowed the project to consider the potential long term financial options and mechanisms for the various land uses associated with the planned restoration projects of the landscape. The team identified different schemes for the project to take ecosystem services to market, reviewed the latest evidence on bundling/ stacking, and then assessed the suitability of the path to market readiness for various ecosystem service mechanisms. The focus was on aggregation of small sites that in isolation would not offer the scale needed for ecosystem service markets, but together could have a large impact on the natural capital and revenue potential.
Impact
The project enhanced the understanding of the economic and social impacts of large-scale nature restoration, offering valuable insights into potential revenue streams.
Accelar’s work demonstrated the profitability of ecosystem service markets relevant to Wild Strathfillan, highlighting the capital injections needed to reach this gain. This facilitated the development of recommendations and a routemap for investment readiness, guiding stakeholders into how to leverage private sector finance.
“The work carried out by Accelar enabled us to understand the potential of our investment options for the Wild Strathfillan Initiative. We have a long way to go, but this work enabled those vital first steps in the right direction.”
- Sue Morris, Trust Director
Services
The Accelar team:
Explored existing data to scope out potential opportunities.
Delivered research and analytics on nature-based solutions and associated benefits.
Explored potential ecosystem service markets including those associated with carbon sequestration, biodiversity improvements, environmental education, nature-based tourism, social prescribing, agroecology and deer management.
Explored potential ecosystem service buyers and their interests.
Performed a high-level land use change analysis and modelling exercise to understand the uplift opportunity of the landscape.
Demonstrated the future potential of Wild Strathfillan as a potential aggregator of natural capital markets and mechanisms.
Developed a proposition integrating the tradeable benefits and market mechanisms to help leverage private sector finance.
Constructed a series of recommendations, a routemap for investment readiness, and a synthesis report to highlight the opportunities for landowners at landscape.