Nattergal

Overview

Nattergal, named after the Danish word for nightingale, was founded in 2021 to answer a blunt question: can nature recovery be a business rather than a cause? It buys tired agricultural land, restores functioning ecosystems and sells the resulting carbon and biodiversity outcomes.

The team draws on the experience of Knepp in West Sussex, and applies it to lowland England at a scale that donations alone would struggle to reach.

The Wildlands

Boothby Wildland, near Grantham in Lincolnshire, is the first and largest: 617 hectares of former arable farm on variable Grade 3 soils, bought in December 2021. Restoration started in 2022 and includes returning the straightened West Glen River to a natural course, with beavers now helping.

High Fen Wildland in Norfolk is the second site, 292 hectares of deep peaty fen grassland that was farmed for arable and daffodils until 2007. Wet, difficult land of this kind is exactly where natural processes can move fastest.

Harold's Park Wildland at Nazeing in Essex is the third site, around 206 hectares bought from the Church of England's investment trustee. Low grade arable, intensive grassland and old Christmas tree plantations are being turned back into wood pasture, on land King Harold is said to have hunted a thousand years ago.

Nature as an Investable Asset

Nattergal's stated purpose is to make nature a global investable asset class. In practice that means buying land at agricultural value, restoring it, and generating revenue from carbon sequestration, biodiversity net gain units, nutrient neutrality and, in time, visitors and wild produce.

It is a contested model, and worth understanding rather than dismissing. If it works it unlocks private money at a scale no charity can match. If the measurement is weak, it risks becoming an expensive way of doing very little.

Results So Far

The Boothby Wildland Impact Report covering 2022 to 2025 records biodiversity up 108% since 2023, with recovering signs from birds including grey partridge and skylark, and beavers established on the river. Publishing that detail, including the awkward parts, is how this model earns trust.

How to Get Involved

Boothby Wildland has open days, trails and volunteering, and Nattergal works with landowners, corporate buyers and investors. Details are at nattergal.com.

Related Grange Project Content

Read about the Knepp Wildland Foundation and our guide to rewilding for landowners, or return to the rewilding organisations hub.