The scheme, which plans to restore more a wide swathe of upland landscape through the planting of native broadleaf trees, is set to be funded, over two phases, by £3.3 million from the Scottish Government’s Forestry Grant Scheme..
That planting will be delivered by sustainable forestry consultancy, TreeStory,
Chris Winter, director of natural capital at Oxygen Conservation, said: “Projects of this scale only succeed when they are approached with an unreasonable level of attention to detail. Invergeldie has been shaped by years of intensive ecological design, iteration and collaboration to ensure the right woodland is established in the right places, for the long term.”
Oxygen Conservation’s Invergeldie Estate (Image: Oxygen Conservation)
The approval marks one of the most significant woodland creation schemes ever consented in Scotland and is a milestone for Oxygen Conservation, whose stated aim is “scaling conservation”, the delivery of complex, landscape-scale restoration projects across the UK.
It describes itself as operating the UK’s leading natural capital platform, designed “from day one” to operate at institutional scale.
Other large-scale woodland creation schemes in Scotland have included, Menstrie Glen, involving the planting of 1.3 million trees across the Ochil Hills , 1.2 million trees at Far Ralia, or the Muckrach scheme for a million trees.
Gordon Brown, a forestry consultant who is CEO and founder at TreeStory said: “I’m incredibly proud of the TreeStory team for the care, patience and depth of thinking they’ve brought to Invergeldie. Creating woodland at this scale only works when it’s rooted in a real relationship with place, and this approval reflects years of listening, to the landscape, its habitats, its biodiversity, and the people connected to it.
“This project is about more than planting trees: it’s about restoring native woodland in a way that strengthens ecological networks, expands and connects habitats, and creates the conditions for wildlife to thrive, from woodland plants and fungi to birds, insects and mammals. It’s a huge milestone for the project, and for what thoughtful, landscape-led forestry and nature restoration can achieve in Scotland. We can’t wait to start planting!”
Early-stage works, led by specialist upland restoration contractors Taiga Upland, are underway, establishing the foundation required to support a woodland creation project of this scale. Tree planting will start this spring, continuing over multiple seasons.
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The project is registered under the Woodland Carbon Code and is forecast to generate over 350,000 tonnes of woodland carbon removal credits, alongside the long-term sequestration of an additional 126,758 tonnes of carbon over a 100-year period, anchored in landscape-scale ecological restoration.
The project is delivered through a combination of aligned private investment and public funding, including £3.3 million, over two phases, through the Forestry Grant Scheme.
This public funding, says Oxygen Conservation, “will play a vital role in enabling restoration at this scale, helping to translate national policy ambition into long-term, on-the-ground delivery across complex upland landscapes”.
Invergeldie is one of twelve estates managed by Oxygen Conservation in the UK. The company has a natural capital portfolio exceeding £400 million in value, spanning more than 50,000 acres across the country, and plans to deliver diversified revenue streams across carbon, biodiversity, renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, ecotourism and property.
Oxygen Conservation’s Invergeldie Estate (Image: Oxygen Conservation)
The acquisition of the Invergeldie Estate was supported by a landmark debt funding agreement with Triodos Bank, the UK’s leading ethical bank.
At Invergeldie, Oxygen Conservation has launched a pilot of an Oxygen Accelerator programme, designed to “help build the next generation of businesses required to grow the natural capital sector and deliver high-quality nature restoration at scale”.
The pilot programme has been launched with a specialist local business delivering herbivore management and environmental restoration services at Invergeldie. Through it, Oxygen Conservation is providing “not only financial support but drone training, long-term contract security, access to proprietary data software, venison donations to a local foodbank, and investment in drone-based surveying and monitoring capability to support evidence-led decision-making”.
A Scottish Forestry spokesperson said: “The Invergeldie native woodland scheme is an important project which will provide a major boost for the area’s environment and will help in the fight against nature loss.
“In addition, being a scheme of over 1,000 hectares in size, it will make a significant contribution to future targets in the government’s Climate Change Plan. When the project establishes it will also importantly provide a number of benefits for the local community and businesses.”