Highlands Rewilding

What Highlands Rewilding does

Highlands Rewilding is a Scotland-based, mass-ownership rewilding company founded in 2021 by Jeremy Leggett, operating across the Scottish Highlands from its headquarters at Bunloit Estate near Drumnadrochit. The company pursues nature recovery and community prosperity through three integrated pillars: (1) operating multi-habitat open-air natural-capital verification science laboratories that generate biodiversity and carbon data to underpin credits; (2) maintaining a democratic mass-ownership structure with 808 shareholders, none holding more than 13%; and (3) running community-rooted operations that combine green jobs, affordable housing, and nature recovery in local Highland communities.

Its core offering is the OSPREY (Operating System Partnership for Rewilding) land management model, under which Highlands Rewilding manages third-party and leased land for nature recovery and shares net proceeds from carbon and biodiversity credit monetisation with landowners on a win-win basis. Underlying this are proprietary science capabilities including thermal drone surveys, e-DNA sampling, camera trap monitoring, National Vegetation Classification surveys, and participation in the UK-wide BIOSCAN project. The company manages 1,784 hectares under OSPREY partnerships across estates including Bunloit and Tayvallich, and projects £72.8 million in net profits over 15 years from this footprint.

The business model blends asset-light land management services (sharing natural-capital monetisation proceeds with partners), equity raises from high-net-worth individuals, family offices and progressive investment companies, community crowdfunding (citizen rewilders investing £50–£200,000), property sales to local communities, and ancillary science/data services. Key partnerships include Barrahormid Trust and the Tayvallich Initiative on land management, NatureProsperity as a strategic investor, and Innovate UK on the Trustable AI in Mapping (TAiM) project. Following a 2024–25 restructuring to an asset-light model, the company fully repaid a £12 million UK Infrastructure Bank loan by September 2025 and raised over £1.8 million in equity crowdfunding in 2025–26.

Name

Highlands Rewilding

Legal name

Highlands Rewilding Ltd

Website

https://highlandsrewilding.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Highlands Rewilding is a Scottish mass-ownership rewilding company that uses proprietary natural-capital science and OSPREY land-management partnerships to generate carbon and biodiversity credits, serving landowners, impact investors, and Highland communities across 1,784 hectares.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rewilding Land Management Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153)

SIC

Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Ecosystem Restoration & Rewilding Services (AFAMAMAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Conservation, Restoration & Biodiversity Services (Habitat, Wetlands, Riparian) (IMAMAJAH), Grassland/Rangeland Management & Restoration (EUABABAF), Ecological Restoration Planning & Monitoring (Habitat, Wetland, Stream) (EUAHAHAF)

Keywords

• Nature-based solutions
• Rewilding land management
• Natural capital verification
• Carbon credit services
• Biodiversity monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Inverness

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Natural Capital Monetisation: Revenue from carbon credits and biodiversity credits generated through nature recovery operations on managed land. OSPREY partnerships share net profits from natural-capital monetisation between Highlands Rewilding and landowning partners.
2. Land Management Services (OSPREY): Operating System Partnership for Rewilding (OSPREY) model where Highlands Rewilding manages land for nature recovery and shares natural-capital monetisation proceeds with partners. Currently projects net profits of £72.8 million over 15 years from 1,784 hectares under management.
3. Science-Led Land Management Services: Data acquisition, analysis, and land management services offered to other natural capital projects and landowners, including biodiversity baselining, carbon assessment, and monitoring.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Highlands Rewilding manages and restores land across the Scottish Highlands for biodiversity uplift, carbon sequestration, and community prosperity. Through its OSPREY land management partnerships it leases or manages third-party estates, conducts science-led natural-capital monitoring, and shares net profits from the resulting carbon and biodiversity credits with landowner partners on a win-win basis. It also delivers community joint ventures and science-based natural capital verification services to make nature recovery investable.

Product overview

Highlands Rewilding is a mass-ownership rewilding company operating across Scotland that combines three key elements: natural-capital data science services (generating verification data to underpin carbon and biodiversity credits), land management partnerships (OSPREY model for managing land owned and leased), and community prosperity initiatives. Their core offerings include OSPREY Land Management Services for monetising natural capital, Natural Capital Science and Verification for creating investable nature-recovery data, Rewilding Projects across multiple Scottish estates (Bunloit, Tayvallich, Beldorney), and Community Joint Ventures enabling local participation in nature recovery. The company is structured as a data-led nature-recovery service provider with an 'asset-lite' model scaling through land management partnerships rather than direct land ownership.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OSPREY Land Management Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Projected net profits of £72.8 million over 15 years from 1,784 hectares under management
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Barrahormid TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCharitable trust that owns over 625 hectares of land at Tayvallich Estate in perpetuity for nature restoration and community prosperity. Highlands Rewilding manages the land under a long-term operating lease, sharing natural capital proceeds on a win-win basis. This is the first OSPREY land services partnership.
• Tayvallich InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal community body partnered with through a Memorandum of Understanding involving 24 mutually agreed action items for nature recovery and community prosperity. Land sold to the Initiative for affordable housing development.
• SeawildingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScotland's first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration initiative. Highlands Rewilding is working with Seawilding to trial seagrass transplantation methods at new locations beyond Loch Craignish.
• NatureSpymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNon-profit organisation that researches and protects wildlife whilst engaging local communities. Partnership involves deploying 15 camera traps across Bunloit estate for wildlife monitoring.
• MammalWebminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCitizen science platform for identifying and recording species from camera trap footage. Highlands Rewilding uploads camera trap data for public analysis to track wildlife distribution and abundance.
• University College Cork - Environmental Research InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal leaders in native oyster disease research, particularly the Bonamia ostrea parasite. Partnership through Celtic and Irish Sea hub for native oyster restoration knowledge sharing.
• NOAR Hatchery, Marine Centre WalesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the most productive native oyster production units in Europe. Partnership through Irish and Celtic Sea hub to learn about hatchery procedures for scaling native oyster restoration.
• NatureScotmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerScotland's nature agency. Partnership on native oyster protection at Loch Sween, including funding for signage and collaborative efforts to reduce illegal poaching.
• Rossmore Oysters LtdminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommercial oyster producer in Ireland with 10 hectares of land with 22 breeding and spatting ponds. Partnership through Irish and Celtic Sea hub for knowledge sharing on commercial seabed deployment.
• Scottish Rewilding AllianceminorOthersBunloit is a proud member of the Scottish Rewilding Alliance, which campaigns for Scotland to be the first Rewilding Nation.
• European Rewilding NetworkminorOthersMember of the European Rewilding Network coordinated by Rewilding Europe.
• Rewilding Britain Rewilding NetworkminorOthersMember of Rewilding Britain's Rewilding Network.
• Global Rewilding AllianceminorOthersMember of Global Rewilding Alliance, which coordinates World Rewilding Day celebrations and global rewilding efforts.
• MAKARminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with NatureProsperity for net-zero carbon homes development in the Scottish Highlands. Highlands Rewilding has worked with MAKAR on developing eco-friendly housing within woodland cover.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Rewilding Europe: Pan-European rewilding organisation coordinating rewilding initiatives across multiple countries. Directly comparable as a large-scale rewilding operator with similar science-driven, community-engaged operating philosophy and Highlands Rewilding is a member of its European Rewilding Network.
• Knepp Estate: Pioneering rewilding estate in West Sussex, England, often cited as the UK template for large-scale, science-led rewilding with biodiversity and carbon outcomes. Operates a similar model of managed land generating natural-capital returns, though privately owned rather than mass-owned.
• Trees for Life: Scottish rewilding charity focused on Caledonian Forest restoration in the Highlands. Highly comparable geography and mission to Highlands Rewilding; the closest Scottish peer operating native woodland and peatland restoration.
• Seawilding: Scotland's first community-led native oyster and seagrass restoration initiative. Active strategic partner of Highlands Rewilding and operates in adjacent marine rewilding space in Scotland, sharing the community-led, science-driven operating ethos.

Broad incumbents

• Scottish Wildlife Trust: Largest nature conservation charity in Scotland managing over 100 reserves. Broader incumbent with overlapping mission and Scottish operating geography but operating as a traditional nonprofit rather than the for-profit, science-driven, credit-generating model Highlands Rewilding uses.
• RSPB: Largest wildlife conservation charity in Europe, managing UK nature reserves and a major buyer of nature-based solutions. Adjacent as the dominant UK conservation brand but does not operate a credit-generating rewilding business like Highlands Rewilding.
• South Pole Group: Major global carbon credit developer and climate solutions provider. Comparable as a participant in the same carbon-credit value chain that Highlands Rewilding's verification science feeds into, though operating at much larger scale and scope.

Emerging players

• Sylvera: UK-based carbon credit ratings and analytics provider. Tangentially comparable as a data-and-science-led player in the natural-capital verification space; while Sylvera rates credits and Highlands Rewilding generates the underlying verified data, both compete for the same bottleneck in the carbon market.
• Ecosulis: UK ecological restoration consultancy delivering habitat creation, biodiversity net gain, and rewilding services. Comparable as a UK-based provider of nature-recovery services to landowners, operating a similar B2B land-management partnership model though at smaller scale.
• NatureMetrics: UK-based nature monitoring technology company using e-DNA and biodiversity analytics. Comparable as a technology-led UK player providing the kind of biodiversity data that underpins nature-recovery credits, including e-DNA — a technique Highlands Rewilding also employs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCf5QowCnz8d5lq0b5nC5P5A
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/highlands-rewilding
• Xx.com/highlandsrewild
• Facebookfacebook.com/highlandsrewilding

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Highlands Rewilding