THE owner of a Scottish nature recovery project has defended the sale of thousands of acres of Scottish land, worth £11 million, amid reports of bankruptcy.
Highlands Rewilding, created and run by Greenpeace’s former director Dr Jeremy Leggett, launched a sale on October 1 for land across its estates at Bunloit near Loch Ness, Tayvallich in Argyll, and Beldorney in Aberdeenshire.
Labelled a “fire sale,” the sale is taking place ahead of a deadline for Highlands Rewilding to pay off debt totalling £12m owed to the UK Infrastructure Bank and “top online partners”.
The organisation borrowed the sum in May 2022 to assist in the purchase of Tayvallich Estate. With an extension, the remaining balance is now owed at the end of January 2025.
Leggett told the Press and Journal: “Yes, we owe £11m, due end January. But we are also in an active fundraising with potential investors from financial institutions seeking to raise £25m, with good prospects as things stand.
“Only in the unlikely event that we fail in our current fundraising round will we use the proceeds from the land sales to repay the loan that allowed us to buy Tayvallich (below) in the first place,” Leggett added.
The project also makes clear that it can choose who the land is eventually sold to, and therefore doesn't need to be sold to the highest bidder.
It further states: "We are trying to sell land, making no profit, so that it can be locked up for community-centred nature recovery, essentially forever.”
Josh Doble, policy officer, at Community Land Scotland (CLS) commented on the mass sale as a “shock” and described the approach by Highlands Rewilding as “more community friendly and environmentally friendly than many more controversial land projects”.
He added that the support from private investors that was hoped for has not appeared for projects like Highlands Rewilding.
Doble said: “The revelation Highlands Rewilding urgently needs to raise £11m to pay back a publicly-owned investment bank is a shock and surprise to many.”
“Highlands Rewilding says first refusal on the land for sale will go to local communities.
“But there are concerns the multi-million-pound price-tags and December 10 deadline for offers could effectively exclude serious local community interest.”
Looking further ahead, Doble urged for tighter control over land buying in Scotland as well as “patient capital and long-term thinking”.
“Scottish land reform models will continue to flounder until communities are empowered to own significant landholdings which can deliver multiple public priorities around the housing crisis, our response to the biodiversity and climate crises and providing green energy.”
