A new UK-based investment initiative has raised £64.6 million (about $86.4 million) in its first close to finance large-scale nature restoration projects across England, marking the country’s first public-private fund dedicated to environmental recovery at this scale.
The Big Nature Impact Fund, managed by Finance Earth, combines public funding from the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with capital from institutional investors. The fund aims to address the long-term financing gap in restoring ecosystems affected by climate change.
Defra provided a £30 million cornerstone investment, while additional funding came from major institutional and philanthropic investors including Zurich Insurance Group, Admiral Group, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and the Church of England’s Social Impact Investment Programme.
The fund is targeting a final size of £90–120 million and is structured to attract private capital by using public funds as early-stage risk protection. This approach allows government-backed investment to absorb initial losses, encouraging more commercial investors to participate.
Under the model, for every £1 of public money, at least £2 of private investment is expected to be mobilized. The structure is designed to make nature restoration projects more attractive to institutional investors by reducing financial risk.
The fund will support projects such as woodland creation, peatland restoration, and habitat recovery. Instead of purchasing land outright, it will partner with landowners and developers, generating revenue through verified carbon credits and biodiversity units sold under long-term agreements.
Investment managers describe the strategy as treating “nature as infrastructure,” aligning it with traditional infrastructure investment models that feature high upfront costs and long-term, stable revenue streams. The approach is intended to make environmental projects more familiar to mainstream investors.
A key milestone for the fund is expected around five years in, when restored ecosystems begin generating verified carbon credits. At that stage, assets may become attractive to secondary investors who purchase stabilized environmental projects.
The fund will focus on high-integrity environmental credits rather than pre-verified offsets, reflecting growing scrutiny of voluntary carbon markets. It has also received the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s “Sustainability Impact” label, signaling regulatory recognition of its environmental claims.
While the market for natural capital remains relatively new and still developing, the fund is designed as a blueprint for scaling similar investment models across the UK and potentially in other regions.
Following its launch, the managing firm plans to expand similar blended-finance structures into Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as international carbon and nature projects in other regions.
