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Why are Beavers Ecosystem Engineers?

Why are beavers ecosystem engineers?

Beavers are some of the world’s most skilled ecosystem engineers, with an incredible ability to create new wetlands, restore native woodland, and improve habitats for a wide range of species. They are a ‘keystone’ species of wetland habitats, meaning that are wide array of other species, from fish and frogs; to insects and birds, are impacted by their presence in the ecosystem. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/06/englands-first-wild-beavers-for-400-years-allowed-to-live-on-river-otter">In August 2020</a>, the first beavers to live in England for centuries were given official permission by the government to remain in their home in Devon after a five-year reintroduction trial. This was the first legally sanctioned reintroduction of an extinct native mammal to England. 
Beavers were once native to the UK, and were widespread across the whole of Europe. However they were <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/saving-species/beavers">hunted to extinction</a> in the UK in the early 1500s and by the end of the 19th century only a few groups remained in Europe. This is because they were good to eat, easy to catch, and they had dense, soft fur that was great for making clothes and hats. In addition, beaver glands contain salicylic acid from their willow diet, which was once prized as a medical cure-all. A single beaver gland could be the same as an <a href="https://beavertrust.org/index.php/beavers-create-healthy-rivers-for-wildlife-and-people/#beaverbasics">entire year’s wages</a> for a medieval worker. 
Beavers used to be an integral part of our landscape, however they were pushed to extinction by human activity. With the loss of a species comes the loss of balance within the ecosystem, ultimately resulting in a more vulnerable, less resilient, environment. As climate change brings more extreme weather, our river systems have become more restricted and we are facing a biodiversity crisis. In recent years the value of beavers as ecosystem engineers, and as a potential solution to some of our problems, has been recognised, and they have been brought back from the brink with reintroduction schemes in <a href="https://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/our-conservation-work/on-land/cornwall-beaver-project">27 European countries.</a>

Beavers are natural ecosystem engineers. They change the habitats that they live in by digging canal systems, damming water courses, and coppicing trees and shrubs. This creates diverse wetland habitats that bring enormous benefits to other species, such as otters, water shrews, water voles, birds, dragonflies, and breeding fish. They have an extraordinary ability to restore degraded habitats, transforming small insignificant streams into cascading mosaics of dams, pools and wetlands. These habitats: 
Alleviate flooding 
By creating dams, channels and wetland habitats, beavers increase the capacity of the land to store water and to produce a more consistent outflow below their dams. These habitats hold back water and release it more slowly after storms or heavy rain, reducing the height of flood peaks. Water being released more slowly also improves low flows during dry periods as water leaking from the dams recharges dry streams, improving water availability during times of drought. 
Boost biodiversity
Beavers create diverse wetland habitats that provide a home for a wide range of wildlife. They also fell trees and bushes, which diversifies the surrounding habitat and, as the trees start to grow back, creates areas of mixed-height, mixed-age vegetation, which is brilliant for encouraging a wide range of species to live there.
Improve water quality 
Beaver dams slow and filter water, causing sediment and nutrients to be deposited in ponds. This improves the quality of water flowing from sites where beavers are present. 
Engage the Community 
People are fascinated by beavers. The presence of beavers in an area provides an opportunity for people to engage with wildlife and conservation efforts, as well as creating a market for nature tourism in some places.

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The capabilities and benefits that beavers bring to local areas have led to the instigation of new projects over the past 10 years to encourage the return of beavers to specific enclosed sites in the UK including Devon, Cornwall and Scotland.

The first beaver reintroduction trial in the UK took place in Scotland. <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In 2009, the Scottish Wildlife Trust</a> released the first wild beavers for over 400 years, in Knapdale Forest, Argyll. Beavers temporarily increased the water storage in the larger lochs. This caused the elevation and stabilisation of water levels in small lochs which reduced the impact of flooding downstream. The most striking effect was seen in a small pond, Dubh loch, in which a dam caused a <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rise in water level of 1.1m</a>, reducing the rate of water flow out of the pond and alleviating flooding of the local area. The beavers also greatly increased the habitat diversity of the site, providing more niches for different species.  
The findings of this project were so successful that they persuaded the Scottish Government to allow beavers to remain, and commit to granting the species a legal protected status. In October 2017, a three-year reinforcement project began, with the release of three more beavers into Knapdale Forest and further releases in spring 2018.

<a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">In 2011, the Devon Wildlife Trust</a> introduced one beaver family group to a 3-hectare enclosed area of land in West Devon. They are working with the University of Exeter to monitor the effects of beavers on the habitats, and so far have found that: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The habitats created store a massive<a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf"> 56 litres of water per m2</a> of land. This has the potential to significantly reduce the impact of flooding downstream. Beavers have constructed 13 dams within the area of the project, meaning that the land will now hold up to <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">one million extra litres of water</a>.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">During storms and heavy rainfall, peak flows were, on average, <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">30% lower</a> leaving the site than entering. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">During storm events each litre of surface water leaving the site had <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">three times less sediment</a> than the water entering the site.</li>
</ul>
The diversity of both plants and invertebrates increased, with the number of beetle species more than tripling since the beavers were introduced. This increase in prey has led to more species of bats being recorded, including rare species such as <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/mammals/barbastelle-bat">Barbastelle bats</a>.

<a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">In June 2017,</a> two beavers were released into a 5-acre area of plantation woodland along Nankilly water, a stream at Woodland Valley Farm, near Ladock. The Nina Constable Media documentary ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeOmBbLwPm4">Cornwall beaver project: the story so far</a>’ shows the phenomenal impact these beavers have already had. Data pre-beavers and post-beavers shows that just eight weeks after being introduced to the site, the beavers constructed four dams, the water level of the main pond rose by 70cm, and the flow gauge downstream of the site recorded a reduction in peak flow. This meant that the beaver dams were slowing down the flow of water through the site after heavy rainfall. 
The landscape is still evolving as new dams are constructed and existing ones are extended, holding water and slowing down the flow. Where it once took 15 minutes for water to flow through the site; it now takes an hour. There is great public support for this project: weekly ‘beaver watches’ help people to engage with the wildlife and raise funds, <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/sites/default/files/2018-11/181023%20Beaver%20Brochure_WEB.pdf">over 1000 people</a> have visited the site so far, and the farm has seen increased bookings for residential stays by schools, colleges and universities.

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Despite this myriad of benefits, beaver reintroductions can be met with resistance. There are sometimes concerns from farmers and fishermen about the impact that beavers will have on their livelihoods. Some of these concerns are valid, but if they are addressed with proper management strategies, they don’t need to cause an issue.  
Most schemes across the UK are in infancy, but in Bavaria beavers were reintroduced in the 1960s and are now having impacts on a large scale. In<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Mmjm22GiY"> ‘Beavers without borders: a short documentary’</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C211b0nTwro&amp;t=1s">‘Living with beavers’</a>, both documentaries by Nina Constable, they looked to these trials in Bavaria to see what impacts beavers are capable of, and how humans have managed any negative effects. When beavers were first introduced to the area, their benefits quickly became clear and biodiversity flourished, with more dragonflies, fish and amphibians recorded, and even sightings of the rare black stork. 
However as the beaver populations grew, they started to move out of the rivers and into the agricultural lands. They inflicted small amounts of damage on fields, eating crops and flooding small areas and creating burrows which damaged farm machinery. There started to be some resistance against the beaver populations and in <a href="https://www.nature.scot/sites/default/files/2017-07/Publication%202015%20-%20SNH%20Commissioned%20Report%20812%20-%20Managing%20wild%20Eurasian%20beavers%20a%20review%20of%20European%20management%20practices%20with%20consideration%20for%20Scottish%20application.pdf">1996 </a>management strategies were devised to address these concerns. 
Farmers now get compensation for any damage and beavers can be caught or controlled if they are in the wrong place. They have also set up ‘set-asides’ in creeks in many areas, an area 5-10m to the right and left of the creek that is left for the beavers and nature to work, and have human land use 20m away. There is also a network of volunteer beaver consultants that give free advice to people who live near beavers or have beavers on their land. 
In the UK we can learn from these projects, and implement management strategies from the start. It’s important to listen and address people’s concerns, so that communities can support these necessary projects. The problems can be addressed and overcome, but the benefits of beavers cannot be imitated. Some of the management options that we have available to address any conflicts include: 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Flow devices – This involves putting a pipe through the dam which allows you to regulate the water level behind it.  </li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Protecting trees- either put a mesh guard around the tree or paint a special paint substance on it which beavers don’t like.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Compensation and funding – providing compensation for damage, or funding to come up with innovative strategies such as building clay banks to redirect water away from farmers&#8217; fields. </li>
</ul>
Another key area of concern is how beaver introductions affect fish populations, with some people worrying that beaver dams create barriers for migrating fish such as salmon and trout. However these concerns are often unfounded.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4Mmjm22GiY"> 70% of the world’s atlantic salmon</a> spawn in Norway, and of their top 10 salmon rivers, seven of them have beavers. Beavers do change the landscape considerably so they can have significant impacts on fish populations. However an <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00421.x">independent review</a> of the interaction between beaver activity and freshwater fisheries found that benefits were cited more frequently than costs, and the majority of experts consider beavers to have an overall positive impact on fish populations.

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Beavers have an awe-inspiring ability to modify their environments for the better, and bring life back to the areas in which they live. Allowing the widespread return of beavers is an important step in starting to repair some of the damage we have done to our natural world. They have the potential to provide a natural and cost-effective solution to the serious issues of flooding, pollution, and species loss within the UK. Because beavers are so unique as ecosystem engineers, this isn’t just about the reintroduction of a species but about the reintroduction of an entire ecosystem. By boosting biodiversity, reducing the impact of floods and droughts, and creating spaces for nature to return, beavers could be a great ally in our fight against the climate crisis.
If you enjoyed this article and want to get involved – read our article on <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/how-does-deforestation-impact-wildlife-and-biodiversity-what-you-need-to-know">how deforestation is impacting wildlife</a>.
<a href="https://ecologi.com/plan"> Sign up to Ecologi</a> to support reforestation and climate action projects that help to protect biodiversity!

20 climate actions businesses can take in 2025

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20 impactful climate actions businesses can take in 2025

Transform your business sustainability while driving growth with these proven strategies for medium-sized enterprises. Our comprehensive guide helps organisations implement practical climate solutions that enhance both environmental impact and bottom line.

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Reduce Business Risk

1. Commit to net-zero.Future-proof your business with a robust net-zero strategy. Clear roadmaps help protect against future regulatory changes and market shifts. Read our <a href="https://ecologi.com/articles/blog/uk-corporate-sustainability-standards-explained">analysis</a> of the existing sustainability standards, such as ISO 14068, that shows how leading companies are successfully navigating this transition.
2. Make your office more energy efficient. Power down printers, use motion-sensor lights, and choose laptops over desktops. These practical steps reduce operational vulnerabilities while protecting against energy price volatility.
3. Green business pensions. Your business pensions could be secretly funding fossil fuels. Sustainable pension funds deliver 21 times more environmental impact than traditional green initiatives while reducing exposure to stranded assets.

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Make Financial Savings for Your Business

4. Switch to a renewable energy supplier. Strategic selection of providers like <a href="https://www.ecotricity.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecotricity</a> and <a href="https://octopus.energy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Octopus</a> can reduce operational costs while enhancing energy security. Renewable energy contracts often offer price stability and protection against market volatility.
5. Reduce business travel and flights. Optimise travel spending through strategic planning. Implementing hybrid meeting solutions reduces costs while maintaining productive relationships. Video calls offer an efficient alternative when in-person meetings aren&#8217;t essential.
6. Buy refurbished tech. Only 17.4% of e-waste was recycled in 2019. Smart IT procurement through providers like <a href="https://helloklyk.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Klyk</a> deliver professional-grade equipment at reduced costs while supporting circular economy principles.

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Drive Deeper Employee Engagement

7. Enroll your leadership team in a carbon literacy course. Transformational change starts at the top. Investing in leadership team climate literacy builds the foundation for informed decision-making and organisational adaptation. Our recommended e-learning course with Seed Culture equips executives with practical knowledge to drive sustainable growth. Get in touch and find out more <a href="https://ecologi.com/page/schedule-a-call">here</a>.
8. Engage colleagues through sustainability lunch and learns. Knowledge-sharing creates organisational momentum. Regular sessions with sustainability experts energise your team and generate innovative solutions. Creating a culture of environmental awareness drives engagement across all levels of your organisation.
9. Reward green travel and commuting. Transform daily commutes into engagement opportunities. The <a href="https://www.bike2workscheme.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bike2Work</a> scheme and other sustainable transport initiatives boost employee satisfaction while reducing your corporate carbon footprint. Recognition programs for green commuting build community and demonstrate your commitment to employee wellbeing.

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Communicate Your Company's Sustainability Work Effectively

10. Create a sustainability page on your website. Showcase your climate journey through dedicated digital real estate. Transparent communication of your goals, progress, and initiatives builds trust with stakeholders and demonstrates leadership. Regular updates keep your audience engaged and inspired.
11. Fund meaningful climate action projects. Share the impact of your investments with compelling storytelling. Regular updates about supported projects and their outcomes demonstrate your commitment to meaningful action. With Ecologi, you can showcase verified impact metrics such as the number of funded trees, carbon avoided or removed through impact projects, that resonate with stakeholders.
12. Level up your business strategy by listening to a business climate podcast. Stay informed and share knowledge through thought-leading content. Shows like Outrage + Optimism and GreenBiz 350 provide valuable insights that can be shared across your communication channels.
13. Join the Million Tree Pledge. Demonstrate your commitment to long-term environmental impact. This ambitious <a href="https://www.milliontreepledge.org/">initiative</a> shows your business is serious about climate action, contributing to global reforestation efforts while building a lasting environmental legacy that resonates with stakeholders.
14. Work with sustainable suppliers. Transform your supply chain to showcase comprehensive sustainability commitment. Working with verified sustainable suppliers enhances your reputation and influences industry standards. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-claims-code-making-environmental-claims/green-claims-and-your-business">CMA checklist</a> provides a framework for evaluating and optimizing supplier partnerships.
15. Celebrate wins! Share your sustainability victories, both big and small, on LinkedIn and other platforms. Regular communication of achievements inspires other businesses while positioning your brand as a sustainability leader. Remember, it&#8217;s about progress, not perfection.

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Attract Eco-Conscious Customers

16. Switch to green web hosting. Your digital infrastructure matters to environmentally conscious customers. Providers like <a href="https://krystal.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Krystal</a> hosting offer 100% renewable energy solutions that demonstrate your commitment to sustainability at every touchpoint.
17. Measure your business&#8217; carbon footprint. Professional carbon accounting builds trust with eco-conscious customers. Our carbon footprinting solution, <a href="https://zero.ecologi.com/signup">Ecologi Zero</a>, provides verified data that proves your commitment to measurable impact. If you don&#8217;t measure it, you can&#8217;t manage it.
18. Opt for a low-carbon website. Choose providers like <a href="http://create.net" target="_blank" rel="noopener">create.net</a> or <a href="https://wearecomplexcreative.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Complex Creative</a> to design and build an environmentally conscious website. A carbon-efficient digital presence shows attention to detail in your sustainability efforts.

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Ignite Innovation and Productivity

19. Upskill by reading the latest business climate literature. Start a company Book Club with works like Bill Gates&#8217; <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/My-new-climate-book-is-finally-here">How to Avoid a Climate Disaster</a> and <a href="https://www.koganpage.com/product/the-solutionists-9781398609327">The Solutionists</a> from Solitaire Townsend. Continuous learning inspires innovative thinking and creative climate solutions across your organization.
20. Buy upcycled office equipment. Transform your workplace through innovative resource management. Pre-loved furniture and equipment create inspiring spaces while reducing waste. This approach demonstrates creative problem-solving and encourages innovative thinking.
BONUS. Implementation Strategy. Success in sustainable business transformation comes from methodical implementation. Begin with initiatives that offer immediate impact while building toward longer-term goals. Regular measurement and communication of progress maintains momentum and demonstrates leadership. Focus on creating business value alongside environmental impact, and share successes to inspire industry-wide change.

<h2>Your Next Steps</h2>
Ready to accelerate your business sustainability journey? Our team specialises in helping mid-sized businesses implement effective climate strategies and funding high-quality, high-impact climate action in the UK and globally. Contact us to discuss how these approaches can be tailored to your specific business needs and growth objectives.

Schedule a 30-minute discovery call with our climate experts

Regenerative agriculture: Reviving ancient practices for carbon removal

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Regenerative agriculture

In this article, we’ll cover;
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What is regenerative agriculture</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">The core principles of regenerative agriculture</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">What is soil organic carbon and its role in carbon removal</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">How regenerative agriculture fights against climate change</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) does soil organic carbon support?</li>
</ul>

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Introduction to regenerative agriculture
As the world grapples with the intensifying effects of climate change, the need for sustainable solutions has never been more urgent. A promising approach to addressing this challenge lies in regenerative agriculture, a farming method that not only focuses on improving soil health but also actively works to sequester carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere. Inspired by ancient agricultural practices that have long understood the importance of working in harmony with nature, regenerative agriculture offers a profound pathway to carbon removal and climate change mitigation.

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<h3>What is regenerative agriculture?</h3>
Regenerative agriculture is more than just an agricultural technique; it is a holistic approach to farming that emphasises the restoration of soil health and the rejuvenation of ecological systems. This approach goes beyond conventional farming practices, which often use harmful substances and depletes the land, leading to increased greenhouse gas emissions. In contrast, regenerative agriculture creates a more sustainable relationship with the earth, prioritising both environmental health and food production. By using methods that improve soil quality, enhance biodiversity, and enable natural nutrient cycles, regenerative agriculture provides a way to work with nature rather than against it.
At the heart of regenerative agriculture is the idea of improving soil health. Healthy soil serves as one of the planet’s most effective carbon sinks, with the ability to absorb and store vast quantities of CO₂ from the atmosphere. By implementing farming practices that increase the organic matter in the soil, regenerative agriculture helps sequester carbon while simultaneously improving soil fertility and crop yields.
Regenerative agriculture is based on photosynthesis whereby plants absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere and convert it into sugars, which fuel their growth. Some of these sugars are released through the plant roots into the soil, where they feed beneficial microorganisms. These microorganisms, in turn, support plant health by enhancing nutrient availability, improving soil structure, and offering natural pest protection. This symbiotic relationship between plants and soil organisms is key to building soil organic matter, increasing its carbon-sequestering capacity, and enhancing soil fertility.

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<h3> The core principles of regenerative agriculture</h3>
Regenerative agriculture encompasses a range of practices designed to restore and maintain healthy ecosystems. These practices not only contribute to carbon removal but also help to increase agricultural productivity and resilience. The core principles of regenerative agriculture include:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Soil Health Improvement: At the foundation of regenerative agriculture is the improvement of soil health. This involves increasing soil organic matter (SOM) and enhancing soil microbiology. Techniques like<a href="https://www.oneearth.org/cover-crops-and-their-myriad-benefits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> cover cropping</a>, <a href="https://thinkregeneration.com/tr-journal/f/regenerative-research-tillage-no-till-systems" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no-till farming</a>, <a href="https://greenamerica.org/blog/methods-regenerative-agriculture-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">composting</a>, and<a href="https://rodaleinstitute.org/why-organic/organic-farming-practices/rotational-grazing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> rotational grazing</a> help restore soil fertility and boost the soil’s <a href="https://www.zevero.earth/blog/regenerative-agriculture-reduce-ghg-emissions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">carbon sequestration </a>potential.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Biodiversity Promotion: Regenerative agriculture encourages the integration of diverse plant and animal species into farming systems. By promoting<a href="https://www.themomentum.com/articles/how-regenerative-farms-support-biodiversity-and-food-systems" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> biodiversity</a>, regenerative farming helps<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/384891298_Regenerative_Agriculture_and_Soil_Health_Enhancing_Biodiversity_through_Sustainable_Farming_Practices" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> create resilient ecosystems</a> that naturally control pests, promote pollination, and support soil health.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Water Management: Healthy soils play a critical role in water retention, reducing runoff and erosion while increasing drought resilience. By improving water infiltration and holding capacity, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367540401_Regenerative_Agriculture-A_Literature_Review_on_the_Practices_and_Mechanisms_Used_to_Improve_Soil_Health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">regenerative agriculture enhances the water cycle</a>, ensuring crops receive the moisture they need, even in arid conditions.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Reduced Chemical Use: Regenerative farming minimises or eliminates the use of synthetic chemicals, such as pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilisers. This reduction enables natural nutrient cycling, reduces environmental contamination, and encourages a healthier farming ecosystem.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Adaptive grazing techniques: Using rotational grazing enhances regenerative agriculture by promoting soil health, increasing carbon sequestration, and supporting biodiversity. These methods allow pastures to recover between grazing periods, improving vegetation growth and soil organic matter while reducing erosion.</li>
</ol>

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What is soil organic carbon and its role in carbon removal?
<a href="https://www.openaccessgovernment.org/what-is-soil-organic-carbon-soc/120702/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soil organic carbon (SOC)</a> is the carbon component found in organic matter within the soil. It is a crucial element in soil health and plays a fundamental role in carbon sequestration. The restoration of degraded soils and the implementation of regenerative agricultural practices have the potential to significantly increase SOC levels, effectively removing CO₂ from the atmosphere.
Healthy soils act as one of the earth’s largest carbon reservoirs, storing more CO₂ than both the atmosphere and vegetation combined. If managed effectively, soils could sequester up to 5 billion tonnes of CO₂ annually (<a href="https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/b05a2539-f9e0-470c-b258-dabfc38dcd0e" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAO, 2021</a>). This makes soil restoration and the management of SOC a critical strategy for addressing climate change.

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<h3>How regenerative agriculture fights against climate change</h3>
As global efforts to combat climate change intensify, regenerative agriculture serves as a powerful tool for carbon removal. The process of soil carbon sequestration not only helps to mitigate the effects of climate change but also enhances the resilience of agricultural systems in the face of extreme weather events, droughts, and soil erosion.
By adopting regenerative practices such as no-till farming, cover cropping, and agroforestry, modern agriculture can restore the land’s ability to sequester CO₂ while simultaneously boosting soil fertility and increasing crop yields. These methods create a virtuous cycle whereby healthy soils support healthy crops, which in turn provide food for humans and livestock while contributing to a healthier planet.
At COP21 in Paris, where the Paris Agreement was signed, the 4 per 1000 Initiative was also introduced, highlighting soil carbon sequestration as a critical strategy for achieving global climate goals. By enhancing soil health and increasing carbon storage in the ground, regenerative agriculture provides a scalable solution for reducing atmospheric CO₂ and mitigating the impacts of climate change. (<a href="https://climateaction.unfccc.int/Initiatives?id=4per1000_Initiative_Soils_for_Food_Security_and_Climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Global Climate Action, 2023</a>)

The <a href="https://4p1000.org/?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">4 per 1000 Initiative</a> &#8211; Soils for Food Security and Climate is a global effort launched in 2015 during  COP21 (the Paris Climate Conference) to promote soil health as a key strategy for combating climate change and enhancing food security. The initiative&#8217;s name, &#8220;4 per 1000,&#8221; comes from the concept of increasing the amount of carbon in the world&#8217;s soils by just 
 0.4% per year (or 4 grams per kilogram) could have a significant impact on reducing the rise of atmospheric CO₂.
<h3>Goals and Objectives</h3>
The main objective of the 4 per 1000 Initiative is to increase the global soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks through sustainable agricultural practices. This increase in soil carbon can potentially offset a significant portion of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, stabilising the climate while improving soil fertility. Key goals include:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Climate Mitigation: Enhance soil carbon sequestration to absorb CO₂ from the atmosphere, reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Food Security: Improve soil health, which leads to better crop yields, increased food security, and more sustainable agricultural systems.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Sustainable Land Use: Promote agricultural practices that are regenerative and sustainable, like agroecology, agroforestry, cover cropping, no-till farming, and crop rotation.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How It Works</h3>
The 4 per 1000 Initiative encourages countries, farmers, scientists, and stakeholders to adopt agricultural techniques that increase soil carbon content. The idea is that even a small annual increase in soil carbon content (by 0.4%) globally would sequester enough CO₂ to help offset current anthropogenic emissions, particularly from fossil fuels and deforestation. 
(The International “4 per 1000” Initiative, 2016)

The 4/1000 initiative

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<h3>Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) does Soil Organic Carbon support?</h3>
Soil organic carbon management is directly tied to several of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which focus on creating a more sustainable and equitable world. These goals include:
<ul>
<li>SDG 15: Life on Land – Regenerative agriculture contributes to land restoration and biodiversity conservation, ensuring the health of ecosystems and the protection of natural resources.</li>
<li>SDG 13: Climate Action – Soil carbon sequestration plays a vital role in climate mitigation by capturing CO₂ and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.</li>
<li>SDG 2: Zero Hunger – SOC improvement boosts soil fertility, increasing agricultural productivity and food security, particularly in regions facing food insecurity.</li>
</ul>
The management of soil organic carbon is also instrumental in achieving broader environmental objectives. As soil carbon levels increase, so does soil health, which in turn supports increased agricultural productivity, improved water retention, and better resistance to erosion and drought.

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<h3>The future of regenerative agriculture</h3>
The future of agriculture lies in practices that restore rather than deplete the earth’s resources. By adopting regenerative agricultural methods, we can revive the health of the soil, promote biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change. However, this will require a concerted effort from farmers, policymakers, scientists, and consumers alike to support and invest in regenerative farming techniques.
Regenerative agriculture provides a powerful solution for carbon removal and climate change mitigation. By drawing inspiration from Indigenous wisdom and combining it with modern scientific understanding, regenerative agriculture offers a pathway to a sustainable future—one that is rooted in harmony with the earth. By restoring soil health and enhancing its ability to sequester CO₂, we can create a more resilient, sustainable, and food-secure world for generations to come.

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<h2>Why your business should fund regenerative agriculture</h2>
Supporting regenerative agriculture is an impactful way for your business to drive meaningful climate action. By funding projects through Ecologi, you can help restore ecosystems, improve food security, and combat climate change through soil carbon sequestration. Investing in these initiatives not only helps the planet but also demonstrates your commitment to innovation, responsibility, and long-term resilience. Speak to the Ecologi team today to explore how your business can make a lasting impact.
Fewer than 50FTE? Visit our <a href="https://ecologi.com/impact-shop/regenerative-agriculture">Impact Shop</a> to fund Regenerative Agriculture carbon removal today.

Schedule a call with our team

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Why tree-planting isn’t the whole story

With the launch of <a href="https://ecologi.com/solutions/impact-funds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi’s Forests and Landscapes Impact Fund</a>, we are working with our partners to pioneer the next phase of corporate financing for nature restoration.
In this article, we’re going to explain a step-change in our industry’s understanding of how to restore nature: shifting the focus from inputs to outcomes.

<h2>Landscapes in a global context</h2>
At the end of 2023, the <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/state-finance-nature-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">State of Finance for Nature Report</a> from the UN Environment Programme described just how underfunded nature-based solutions are.
The UNEP report found that $200 billion USD per year is provided to nature-based solutions – a tiny percentage of the $6.7 trillion USD which is provided annually to activities which directly harm nature. In order to meet our climate, biodiversity and restoration targets (as well as reducing nature-harmful financial flows), almost three times this annual amount of nature-positive investment is required by 2030.
As well as scaling-up the financial flows, we must create multifunctional landscapes where people and wildlife can thrive. This method was described in the recently-updated <a href="https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/2023-09/undp-gef-integrated-spatial-planning-workbook-2023-en.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNDP Integrated Spatial Planning Workbook</a>, to provide implementation guidance in support of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The landscapes we restore will only remain in a healthy state if those living within them are able to exist harmoniously alongside nature.
As such, our approach holds that any restoration projects that the Ecologi community supports must maintain this holistic approach, and generate lasting positive impacts on people and biodiversity, as well as on our climate. 
Any restoration project exists within its own ecological and social landscape, and through working alongside local communities and carefully designing the project activities to be holistic and enduring, the projects we support are much more than just ‘tree-planting programmes’.

<h2>Planting trees is not the whole story</h2>
Nowadays, some of the basic principles of nature restoration are quite widely understood – for example, most prospective funders are aware of the importance of planting locally-native species. But other critical aspects of project design don’t receive the attention they deserve, because funders are often only thinking in ‘per-stem’ terms, about how many trees have been ‘paid for’ and planted. This means there is a risk of private funding being directed to projects that are not necessarily producing the most impactful results for people, biodiversity and the climate. 
Tree-planting plays an important role in successful nature restoration projects. However, there are many other important elements required to run an impactful project – which also require funding. At Ecologi, we have always sought out partners who go beyond tree-planting, incorporating many other environmental and socioeconomic elements to their projects in order to produce the most positive outcomes. 
Whilst historically we have often championed the number of trees funded for planting by the Ecologi community, it would be wrong to think of this as the main (or only) success metric for how successful our projects have been in restoring nature.

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Our aim then, is to make other restoration outcomes as well-understood as the number of trees planted. At Ecologi, we’d love to see a world where the public and businesses are able to appreciate and communicate the cascading positive impacts of funding a landscape restoration project which go beyond how many trees have been planted.
Equipped with this more holistic understanding, businesses who want to do good will put their money towards the very best initiatives, and enable us to collectively have a bigger impact on our planet’s future.

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<h2>What is landscape restoration?</h2>
Our partners on the ground have been thinking this way the whole time – but the demand-side understanding is very much stuck in the past; if corporate funders are only focused on the input of how many trees they are ‘paying to plant’, then it’s very likely that they are missing out on understanding crucial wider components of effective landscape restoration.
We spoke to each of our long-term restoration partners to gather their thoughts.
<h3>The social aspect</h3>
The level of involvement of local communities in a nature restoration project is among the strongest indicators of project success, because it is local people who will manage the landscape into the long-term future. If we are serious about restoring ecosystems, then we need to root our restoration efforts in the community itself. It is they, their children, and their children’s children who will look after the forest as it grows and returns to health – a process of decades and centuries. 
We also cannot discount the social and economic realities of the communities themselves. The most impactful restoration programmes are those which align the needs and aims of the community with the needs and aims of the ecological restoration activities; otherwise, the structural foundations of the project will always be weak.

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Local and Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge is also critical to help sustain a landscape restoration project.
Often, important local historical context is held and shared by local people who have seen the landscape change in their lifetime and have anecdotal evidence passed down through the generations. This knowledge could not be found anywhere else, and it can be instrumental in developing successful outcomes.

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To truly understand the impact of a project, we need to look beyond the solitary ‘trees planted’ metric, and seek out a wider set of indicators which include the social, to help us to understand which projects are generating the most positive impact.
<h3>The ecological aspect</h3>
We then need to consider the ecological angle. Ecosystems around the world are in desperate need of restoration and protection. We know how important restoring tree cover is for our climate, but restoring other elements of landscapes is also vitally important for planetary health, biodiversity, and livelihoods.
From rivers and streams that provide us with clean water, to soils where we grow our food, and wetlands that keep carbon locked away, every part of a landscape needs consideration when designing a restoration project. Tree-planting can be an effective way of supporting many elements of a landscape, but it is just one tool we can use – and trees are not the right intervention everywhere.

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So when we think about a project area – a polygon on a map which could be hundreds or even thousands of hectares in area – it is very unlikely that a singular intervention like tree-planting is going to be appropriate uniformly across the whole area. The topography could vary in altitude or aspect (slope direction), and different areas within the polygon could have different wind exposure, rain shadows, soil compositions, wildlife grazing patterns, and so on. There might be existing primary forest which needs preservation rather than new saplings planting amongst it. There might be rivers, streams, lakes or peat bogs. There might be people living in the project area – with houses, facilities and roads or pathways which all need to be factored in.

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Our partners have always been concerned with all of this and more, and we want to bring that understanding to our customers and funders who support their projects through Ecologi.

<h2>Our partners and landscape restoration</h2>
The physical planting of trees can be very cheap. But prioritising high-quality projects that deliver meaningful benefits to the people and wildlife who live there – something Ecologi believes in strongly – comes with other considerations, which cost money.
When our community entrusts funds to Ecologi to support climate action projects, we take our responsibility very seriously and our team works tirelessly to ensure that money is directed towards the most impactful projects, delivered by organisations committed to making a real difference for our planet. It’s not really about ‘paying to plant trees’.

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To date, Ecologi has funded over 50 incredible reforestation projects on 3 continents with 11 partners, and what made them truly impactful was that they have always been being delivered holistically. In reality, each of these is much more than ‘tree planting’ projects. That’s why two of our supported partners <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/nature-staging-comeback-un-recognizes-seven-world-restoration" target="_blank" rel="noopener">were announced as UN World Restoration Flagships</a> in 2024, and one of them <a href="https://earthshotprize.org/winners-finalists/accion-andina/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">won the Earthshot Prize</a> in 2023. 
Consequently, we’ve been able to report on incredible benefits brought to local people and wildlife by these projects, from the development of new sustainable income streams enabling local people to send their children to school, to the installation of irrigation systems providing clean drinking water.

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<h2>How can my business make a difference?</h2>
On your business’s road to net-zero, you have two central objectives:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">First: measure your business’s emissions, set ambitious reduction targets, and reduce your emissions across all scopes as much as possible, as quickly as possible.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Then: support the global transition to net-zero and the restoration of nature by contributing to climate and nature projects around the world. </li>
</ol>
Under this second step, you’ll come across the phrase ‘Beyond Value-Chain Mitigation’ (BVCM), and it’s a crucial part of your business’s sustainability story. Without businesses taking responsibility for supporting restoration efforts worldwide, we will not reach <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/state-finance-nature-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the levels of nature-positive financing required</a> to address the linked climate and biodiversity crises.

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Supporting long-term, large-scale initiatives delivered in partnership with local people can be one of the most effective ways of restoring nature.
Businesses should choose projects that allow them to report on all the impacts they’re contributing towards. Not only will this allow them to demonstrate the variety of ways their business is contributing towards a better future, but by demonstrating a more sophisticated approach to funding climate action.

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<h2>How can Ecologi help?</h2>
Here at Ecologi, we are determined to make it easy for businesses to fund meaningful and holistic climate projects, whilst tackling their own emissions. 
Our <a href="https://ecologi.com/solutions/impact-funds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Impact Funds</a> direct funding towards a range of incredible, holistic projects that are making a difference to local people and biodiversity as well as our climate. As we’ve explored in this article, this means funding much more than simply planting trees, and we want to shift business’ mindsets away from thinking about funding the planting of a specific number of trees, and towards thinking about contributing an amount of money towards holistic forest and landscape restoration.
Some of our partners have already made this shift in communicating the projects’ benefits, including Eden: People+Planet (formerly Eden Reforestation Projects).

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<h2>How to support Impact Funds today</h2>
You can contribute to the Impact Funds via the <a href="https://ecologi.com/impact-shop" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ecologi Impact Shop</a>, or if you&#8217;d like to discuss your climate action goals in more detail then schedule a call with our experts by filling in the form below.

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