The Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland (ELC) has announced its support of an innovative woodland platform project in the South Downs National Park, as part of a five-year commitment to nature restoration across the UK's National Parks.
The project, which is being delivered by UK nature restoration facility Revere, aims to establish over 5,000 hectares of interconnected native woodland habitat across the National Park. ELC's funding will support the design of an innovative financing platform that will aggregate many individual tree planting sites, making it possible for landowners of all sizes to participate in the woodland creation.
The financing platform will also create the scale needed to attract large-scale institutional investment, which is essential to pay for the upfront costs of woodland planting and delivery.
Once established, the South Downs woodland initiative will contribute significantly to the UK's journey to achieving Net Zero by using woodland creation to sequester greenhouse gases. All carbon credits generated will be verified by the government-backed Woodland Carbon code.
ELC has pledged £100,000 ($122,110) to this project, with the global company guaranteeing a further £300,000 ($366,330) to be spent on other nature restoration projects throughout the UK's National Parks over the next three years.
Sue Fox, President of The Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland, said: "We are very proud to continue our multi-year partnership with Revere and support pioneering nature restoration projects in the UK's beautiful National Parks. And with the South Downs being so close to our Petersfield office, we look forward to getting our staff out into the Park volunteering – the perfect way for them to see for themselves the work that we are supporting."
The funding of the South Downs Woodland platform is the second Revere innovation project supported by ELC, the first being a study into water quality in the Lake District.
