The UK’s Lake District National Park is among the country’s most loved landscapes, covering over 900 square miles and home to some of England’s highest peaks, sprawling lakes, picturesque villages, and varied flora and fauna. It’s also full of nature restoration opportunities to reduce flood risks, improve biodiversity, and enhance water quality, which is what Revere, a collaboration between Palladium and UK National Parks to restore nature at scale, has been working on in the Lake District for several years.

Now, Santander UK is investing in the development of an innovative nature financing platform in the Lake District National Park. This is the second Revere project the global bank has supported, the first of which restored 200 hectares of degraded peatland in Cairngorms National Park.

The platform, developed in collaboration with local landowners and the National Park Authority, will secure investment to fund the creation of nature-based solutions that are designed to improve water quality in lakes and rivers, enhance biodiversity, and build natural climate resistance. The solutions will include creating wetland to slow water flows and planting woodland in high impact locations (such as along riverbanks).

“The Lake District National Park is of great ecological and cultural significance for the UK,” says Andrew Sutherland, Palladium Director of Nature-Based Solutions. “We’re proud to be partnering with Santander UK in developing innovative solutions to address some of the threats to water quality and biodiversity.”

The first phase of Revere’s work in the Lake District was funded by Estée Lauder Companies UK & Ireland and identified over 400 hectares of opportunity to create woodland and wetland across the Lake Windermere catchment that would reduce the amount phosphorus pollution entering the lake. The project also led to the creation of a financial model to assess options for funding the wetland and woodland sites. Santander UK is now picking up the baton to enable phase two of the nature financing platform design work.

“With Santander UK’s support, we’ll be able to explore new nature-based solutions by unlocking much needed investment,” explains Richard Leafe, Chief Executive of the Lake District National Park Authority. “This is an exciting and innovative project that will continue our work towards a healthier lake and surrounding area for everyone to enjoy.”

For James Dunne, UK Head of Wealth Management and Insurance at Santander UK, the innovative collaboration is a critical continuation of the team’s work in the Cairngorms. “We know our customers care about protecting the environment and have an expectation that businesses are responsible in the ways they do business” he says. “This important partnership allows us to demonstrate we do take it seriously, not just by supporting nature restoration but also by encouraging our colleagues to get involved and volunteer.”

According to Palladium’s Sutherland, work began this past August and will deliver the next stages of a nature-based solutions platform that improves water quality in Lake Windermere. “Corporate partnerships with the likes of Santander, as we’ve seen in the Cairngorms and now in the Lake District, are essential if we’re going to bridge the funding gap between the scale of nature restoration required to address the climate and biodiversity and the available funding from government grants.”

“Responsible, ethically aligned private sector partnerships can be a force for good in UK nature restoration and we’re excited to begin this next phase with Santander.”

Learn more about Revere or contact info@thepalladiumgroup.com for more information.