Nattergal

About Nattergal

Nattergal, formed in 2021, is a for-profit nature recovery company focused on making ecosystem restoration an investable asset class. The company acquires and manages ecologically degraded, low-yielding farmland to restore natural processes and enhance biodiversity. Its projects are located in the UK, including Boothby Wildland in Lincolnshire, High Fen in Norfolk, and Harold's Park in Essex. The leadership team includes notable figures in the conservation and finance sectors, such as Sir Charlie Burrell, a founder of Knepp Wildland, who serves as Non-Executive Chairman, and Archie Struthers, a former executive at BlackRock and Aberdeen, as CEO.

The business model centers on generating long-term, sustainable financial returns from a diverse portfolio of revenue streams. Initially, income is derived from government support through programs like the Landscape Recovery Scheme, which helps to de-risk the business model in its early stages. The primary long-term revenue sources are from the sale of natural capital credits, including Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units, carbon credits, and potentially water credits. Nattergal is already marketing BNG units to developers who need to meet legal requirements for increasing biodiversity. Additional income is generated through nature-based enterprises such as ecotourism, including camping and glamping, property rentals, and corporate events.

Nattergal operates as an umbrella company that raises investment to own and manage individual restoration sites, which are run as separate entities with local steering groups to ensure community engagement. In October 2024, the company successfully raised £40 million in a seed funding round led by co-founder Lansdowne Partners, with insurance firm Aviva becoming a key institutional shareholder. This funding supports the acquisition of new sites and the scaling of its restoration activities, with a goal of operating 20 to 30 projects globally within five years.