National Trust

The Nature Recovery Project is on a mission to restore biodiversity. As part of our growing commitment to regenerate threatened landscapes, we’re excited to announce a landmark partnership with the National Trust. This new collaboration will focus on one of the UK’s most unappreciated but critically important ecosystems, lowland peatlands.

Through this partnership, we will also promote innovative land use with paludiculture, a wetland- friendly farming method that allows for productive agriculture without draining the land. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions while supporting local economies and sustainable food systems. By improving water retention and ecosystem diversity, these restored peatlands will reduce flood risk and create safe havens for endangered species, including birds, amphibians, and pollinators. Together, we are setting out to restore degraded peatlands, helping to lock carbon in the ground, restore biodiversity, and build climate resilience.

Why Peatlands Matter

Peatlands are among the most powerful natural tools in the fight against climate change. Covering just 3% of the planet’s surface, these waterlogged ecosystems store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined. But in the UK, they are deteriorating. Over 80% of our lowland peatlands are degraded, drained, and damaged, turning them from carbon sinks into carbon sources. These damaged landscapes now emit over 20 million tonnes of CO₂ every year, worsening climate change and undermining our national sustainability goals. They also serve as vital biodiversity hotspots and help reduce flood risk, filter water, and support local agriculture. Restoring these landscapes has become essential, and that is where this partnership steps in.

A Powerful Partnership for Landscape Recovery

This partnership with the National Trust is rooted in shared values and a common vision for environmental stewardship. TNRP’s mission-driven experience in large-scale habitat restoration and regenerative land use, while the National Trust, with a reputation for environmental stewardship in the UK, contributes decades of experience in conserving and managing some of the UK’s most treasured landscapes. Together, we aim to transform degraded peatlands into thriving, resilient ecosystems. By restoring these vital areas, we are not only protecting biodiversity and tackling climate change at its root but also supporting local communities and strengthening the resilience of some of the UK’s most vulnerable regions.

Our Core Aims

This partnership will work on peatland sites, Wicken Fen and the Somerset levels, restoring degraded lowland peatlands at scale, improving soil conditions, and reintroducing native flora and fauna. In doing so, we’ll turn once-degraded land into vibrant, biodiverse, carbon-absorbing ecosystems.

“TNRP is energised by the dual potential of the Lowland Restoration Project, uniting the critical environmental benefits of peatland restoration and habitat rejuvenation with a sustainable commercial purpose. If the project can demonstrate that healthy, thriving peatlands can successfully coexist with profitable food production, we anticipate that this model could be adopted widely across both existing and historically degraded peatlands. This would unlock a powerful pathway for sequestering carbon faster than a thriving rainforest.”
- James Berry, Head of Strategy

Restoring peatlands is one of the most effective ways to cut emissions, adapt to a changing climate, and rebuild natural systems from the ground up. Through this partnership with the National Trust, we’re working to build ecosystems that are rich in biodiversity, resilient to climate extremes, and capable of sequestering carbon on a massive scale. But most importantly, we are building a legacy. One where nature and people thrive together. One where restored peatland is no longer the exception but the norm.