Community Joint Ventures
In October 2023 we received funding to co-develop a set of investment-ready business plans for community joint ventures on and around Bunloit, Beldorney, and Tayvallich.
This project, ‘Joint Ventures for Scalable Community Benefits from Rewilding’, aims to create opportunities for communities to benefit from the environmental improvements that come with rewilding.
Explore our approach, key definitions, and how to get involved.
Community joint ventures
To us “community joint venture” means a new business created jointly by Highlands Rewilding and the communities local to the land we manage to benefit from improvements in natural and cultural heritage.
Central to Highlands Rewilding’s approach is co-creation of the joint ventures with the local communities. We want the business ideas for the ventures to come from the communities themselves, to meet their needs and interests and use their expertise to tap into the many ecosystem services that the rewilding of the land can bring.
Community joint ventures (CJVs) developed under our FIRNS funded project will combine:
Communities local to our sites
(their heritage, needs, priorities, expertise)
Our rewilding activities and expertise
Restored nature and its benefites (ecosystem services)
The communities across the three land areas are very different to one another. Each contains a vast array of expertise, interests, and needs. We are already seeing this in the first CJV ideas. We are hoping to see even more of the individual character of each area in the ideas as our project progresses, and with luck some scalable business ventures that could be replicated in other areas as a result.
The project will also fund legal advice on the most appropriate ownership structures for the CJVs, set up their structure and constitutional documents and finalise the shareholders or members agreements for each CJV. These are costs that community groups may otherwise be unable to afford, and we hope will provide a framework that can be used elsewhere.
CJVs are making their way to Scotland. To illustrate how cooperation between a private company and a community can work we might take the example of a community deer larder. Deer management is a vital part of Highlands Rewilding’s land management across it’s sites. However, when the deer are stalked these could be supplied to a community-run business that processes the deer, butchers them and then sells them on to local businesses and communities. Highlands Rewilding land could provide a resource for community benefit, whilst the community enterprise fulfills an important function for Highlands Rewilding by ensuring the deer can be stalked and locally sourced food supplied. Both come together for a shared purpose sharing resources and expertise.
Funding
Our project is part of the Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS) scheme, co-funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with the Scottish Government and NatureScot.
Thanks to National Lottery players!
Ours is one of 27 projects in the first round of funding from this innovative Scottish programme. It will run for 18 months (until 31 March 2025) across the three estates owned by Highlands Rewilding. Our total budget is £194,700, with 50% provided by NatureScot and 50% by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This funding is used to support a Community Engagement Coordinator role and a Marine Rewilding Lead within Highlands Rewilding, as well as a programme of community meetings and initial development of joint venture ideas.
The communities local to the lands managed by us are at the centre of this project, and will co-design and co-develop this process.
The joint ventures will capitalise on environmental improvements from rewilding, and the valuable ecosystem services they generate. They will be a mechanism for involving more people in nature restoration, boosting the economy, skills development, job creation and cohesion in local communities.
Ecosystem services
Ecosystem services are the direct and indirect contributions which ecosystems make to human well-being. These range from tangible things like food or wood, or systems which deliver clean water or limit flooding, to more intangible contributions like the way ecosystems give us a sense of place or spiritual connection.
NatureScot has created a very clear infographic giving examples of what ecosystem services are and their contributions to human well-being (Source: nature.scot):
Land ecosystem services
To put this theory in our context it is worth thinking about the ecosystem services that Highlands Rewilding’s lands provide. Looking at Bunloit and Beldorney, we can list the following:
Provisioning
Food and drink
Materials
Provisioning
Genetic resources
Sand & gravel
Harvestable seaweed
Energy
Fish and Shellfish stocks
Water Quality
Regulating
Clean air
Carbon storage
Flood management
Erosion control
Water purification
Disease and natural pest control
Pollination
Supporting
Healthy soils
Photosynthesis
Nutrient cycling
Space for wildlife
Cultural
Spiritual and religious connections
Inspiration
Sense of place
Recreation
Knowledge and learning
Tourism
Physical health and mental wellbeing
Marine ecosystem services
In the context of the Tayvallich estate it is worth having a look at what marine environment can provide as well:
Cultural
Tourism
Recreation
Wildlife watching
Science and education
Seascapes
Health and well-being
Creativity & art
Regulating
Storm protection
Waste breakdown and detoxification
Carbon storage and climate regulation
Stabilise sediment
Supporting
Food web
Juvenile fish and Crustacean nursery grounds
Nutrient cycling
Water cycling
Larval/gamete supply
Habitats for species
Water currents & sediment transport
Upcoming community meetings and engagement
We want to make sure the community joint ventures are a shared process and that they are developed with and for the community. To do this we are holding a series of meetings on each estate to listen the voices of all the different members of the community and hear ideas for what would make viable join ventures for each estate.
Beldorney community drop-in session: This is an informal and participatory drop-in, with information and ideas presented around the room, and HRL colleagues James Yoxall (Estate Manager) and Annabel Davidson Knight (Community Coordinator) will be available to chat through our work and gather your feedback. There’ll be refreshments available and all are welcome to pop in and get involved – all and any ages welcome!
We continue to develop our land management plans, as such our Estate Manager will be on hand to describe this activity and answer questions about our rewilding work – from controlling invasive species, restructuring woodlands, to monitoring biodiversity, soils and river health.
Please do get in touch via info@highlandsrewilding.co.uk if you have any questions. We also have funds to help attend and pay for travel if you want to come but are worried about getting there.
Community Engagement websites and surveys launched!
We have recently launched three new Community Engagement websites, where you can find out more about our work at Bunloit, Beldorney and Tayvallich, and get involved in events, volunteering and other projects.
These surveys (closing Sunday 12th May), focus wider community benefits and priorities and on our Community Joint Ventures FIRNS funded programme; we want to hear local ideas for ventures and test those that have already been suggested, as well as build a deeper understanding of what people particularly value about the land and landscape at our sites. We are grateful for your time in filling this in and helping to circulate it to ensure we gain a wide range of views.
You can find the surveys here:
Have Your Say Today - Highlands Rewilding Bunloit Community - Commonplace
Have Your Say Today - Highlands Rewilding Beldorney Community - Commonplace
Have Your Say Today - Highlands Rewilding Tayvallich Community – Commonplace
Please only fill in the survey for the site you live or work close to.