Kicker: Plans to reduce sheep numbers
By Ewan Pate
A HUGE tranche of the hill land formerly on the iconic Glen Dye Estate in the eastern Grampians has been sold for forestry and peatland restoration.
The deal, which covers 6,356 hectares, is the latest and largest of its type in Scotland and has been driven by the rewards offered for carbon capture.
The joint buyers are Scottish forestry investment fund manager Par Equity and global asset managers Aviva Investors.
The partnership, which is making its first investment of this type, plans to capture more than 1.4 million tonnes of carbon through woodland creation and peatland management.
The land is presently open moorland used for a mix of sporting and farming enterprises.
The sale price has not been disclosed but, using recently quoted bare land planting values of 14,500/ha, a deal of this scale could be worth about 80m as the rush to secure land capable of carbon sequestration gains momentum.
There will be detailed public and statutory consultation before work begins, but the proposals are for 1,800ha of peatland restoration work and 3,000ha of planting, including up to 1,000ha of productive conifers and 2,000ha of native woodland including Scotch Pines.
The project will be designed, implemented and managed by Scottish Woodlands and undertaken over five years.
Daniel McHugh, chief investment officer of real assets at Aviva Investors, said: One of the most critical aspects of the Climate Transition Fund we launched this year is that it materially reduces carbon impact, primarily through the decarbonisation of the built environment but also via nature-based solutions, including afforestation. This is the first of many investments we expect to make in this space.
Rachel Sedgwick, Glen Dye Estate manager, confirmed there will be no redundancies among existing staff, but they would look to reduce sheep numbers, though no specifics were given.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said peatland restoration and woodland creation were central to achieving net zero plans.
Achieving our goals will require responsible private investment, which means we must balance the need for private sector investment with community rights and ambitions, said the spokesperson.
The Scottish Government is not involved in the Glen Dye project but is keen to find out more about their plans and how they can contribute to Scotlands environmental, social and economic ambitions.
