Image credit Alex Lintott
Restore Nature - Fixing Future Forestry
Ensuring Environmental Impact Assessment
Success at Stobo
Stobo Hope is an environmentally and culturally sensitive 1000+ hectare glen in the Scottish Borders, lying within a National Scenic Area and supporting wildlife including Golden Eagles, Black Grouse and other upland species.
This community-led campaign has already secured major results: forestry operations halted, a £2 million public grant withdrawn, and a landmark legal victory confirming that the original decision-making process was unlawful. A full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is now underway, with scoping recently submitted — a critical step towards ensuring impacts on landscape, habitats and wildlife are properly understood.
The campaign began in response to a large-scale forestry proposal that threatened this landscape without proper scrutiny. Thanks to public support and expert evidence, there is now a real opportunity to secure lasting protection for Stobo Hope and set a stronger precedent for environmental decision-making.
We would like to thank the 527 supporters who backed our crowdfunder and everyone who helped defend this special place. The crowdfunder remains open as we continue to monitor the process and ensure this nationally important landscape receives the protection it deserves.
Landscape Scale Assessment Critical
Success at Todrig
In 2021 Gresham House Forest Growth and Sustainability Fund LP acquired Todrig farm for £12.2 million. Investors in this fund include the SNIB, with £50 million of taxpayers’ money. Their plan is to have a 1,000-acre plantation at Todrig, mainly of ecologically disastrous Sitka spruce. Next door to Todrig is Whitslaid, with a proposal for another 1,700 acres of spruce. Together, these schemes would form an extensive, predominantly Sitka forest of 11 square kilometres, wiping out fragile moorlands and calcareous grasslands and the wildlife that depends on them.
In March 2026, the Court of Session ruled that the decision to ‘screen out’ an EIA in December 2024 was unlawful, confirming failures to properly assess landscape and biodiversity impacts and dismissing concerns raised by charities and local communities. The decision has now been legally cancelled and must be reconsidered through a new, lawful process. This creates a critical opportunity to secure a full Environmental Impact Assessment to consider impacts on landscape, habitats and species. Restore Nature will continuing to monitor the process and ensure proper environmental scrutiny at every stage.
We would like to thank our 412 supporters who have backed the crowdfunder to date - this remains open as we continue to monitor the EIA process.
Delivering on Carbon and Biodiversity targets
The right tree in the right place
Commercial forests in the UK are typically large-scale monocultures of non-native species. In many other countries more balanced native forestry and planting/harvesting systems are much more widespread.
While we need timber, commercial plantations that destroy semi-natural biodiverse habitats − moorlands, wetlands and upland grasslands − have major adverse impacts on biodiversity, soils, fisheries and flood alleviation capacity.
Although commercial forestry may deliver short-term carbon capture benefits, these semi-natural habitats already provide significant carbon storage, raising serious questions over the net carbon emissions of commercial forestry in these areas.
Planting the right tree in the right place is critical and we are working to support a more balanced forestry system that will deliver across multiple targets.
For more information The Royal Society of Edinburgh chaired by Ian Wall, have written an excellent report - more work is underway to reflect recent advances in understanding. See below.
Image credit Alex Lintott
Restore Nature One Health Campaigns
'One Health' - Balancing human, animal and environmental health
Safe use of paraciticides in our pets
The UK is home to 22 million cats and dogs which together with increasing use of products to combat parasites in our pets has led to increasing volumes of pesticides being used in our homes. In the UK, all veterinary medicines are subject to a legally regulated licensing process that evaluates their safety in animals, humans and the environmental however many companion animal medicines have only been assessed through a Phase I environmental impact assessment and not through a more rigorous Phase II ecotoxicological assessment.
Rapidly emerging data on molecules such as Imidacloprid and Fipronil suggest there may be serious and wider impacts on the environment than previously identified. The risk of human exposure to some of these molecules is also being interrogated.
The Precautionary Principle
Turning off the tap
So-called forever chemicals (PFAS [per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances]) are ubiquitous in modern life, as are herbicides, insecticides, pesticides and fungicides − commonly used to control ‘pests’ to protect garden plants, crops and to control unwanted insects.
At Restore Nature we are concerned that products designed to solve one problem may be creating others. Our team is working to understand the known risks (to biodiversity and ecosystems) and the unknown risks (e.g. to human health).
We advocate a precautionary principle to minimise use of these chemicals and their associated risks to humans, domestic animals and the environment.
Raising awareness on Biodiversity loss and potential solutions
Bringing back the buzz
2024 saw a significant decrease in UK insect life. While this was likely exacerbated by more extreme weather, it is part of deeply concerning trend toward widespread biodiversity decline across our insects, birds and mammals. Restore Nature’s Dave Goulson likens this widespread species decline to a process of removing rivets from an aeroplane − it may continue to fly without some rivets, but which ones are so critical that removing them will send the plane crashing to the ground? Urgent action and greater awareness are needed. Restore Nature aims to push the biodiversity crisis up political agendas and provide actionable solutions through our campaigns and programmes.