A 3,668-acre estate in the Cairngorms National Park has come to market with a £12m price tag.
The Far Ralia estate has an approved and fully-funded reforestation scheme underway that is estimated to sequester an estimated 346,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime.
Far Ralia’s current biodiversity levels sit just below 52% according to the Biodiversity Intactness Index, but projections by the Natural History Museum indicate that the regeneration plan will allow biodiversity to recover to 94% over approximately 75 years, surpassing the safe planetary boundary.
Abrdn Property Income Trust has appointed Knight Frank to market the opportunity after shareholders decided to enter a managed wind-down of the trust and divest all its assets.
Will Matthews, head of farms and estates at Knight Frank, said: “For investors seeking to align profits with sustainability, Far Ralia represents a rare and compelling opportunity for investors to acquire a vast natural asset that can deliver both environmental and financial prospects. The estate offers a turnkey solution for any investor looking to establish a scalable carbon sequestration project. The projections that biodiversity can recover to 94%, highlights the tremendous potential for enhancing the resilience and ecosystem services provided by this landscape.”
Claire Whitfield, a partner in the rural consultancy team at Knight Frank, added: “Nearly 1,000,000 trees have now been planted with the remaining planting and validation of the scheme for the Woodland Carbon Code due to be undertaken later this year. There are further prospects for carbon credit generation through the restoration of the peatland.
“As the trees mature and the biodiversity is restored, Far Ralia will allow its new owners to be part of a unique recovery project to enhance biodiversity, manage water catchments, rebalance ecosystems and sequester carbon and avoid future emissions to help tackle some of society’s climate change issues. Increasingly, investors are seeking opportunities to back at scale UK based climate solutions that can deliver measurable impact and Far Ralia checks all those boxes.”
Fraser Green, head of natural capital investment at abrdn, said: “Over the last there years, we have taken an area of land that was previously predominantly used as a grouse moor and progressed a series of substantial environmentally beneficial activities. This includes restoration of native pine and birch woodland through planting and natural regeneration, with a further opportunity to restore degraded peatland, drawing input from the Natural History Museum.”
