A CONTROVERSIAL Highlands estate has been put back on the market.
The 3668-acre Far Ralia estate in the Cairngorms has been listed at £12 million, just three years after it was bought for £7.5m by an investment trust run by Standard Life, now Abrdn.
Bought in an effort to offset carbon emissions from its properties and eventually sell carbon credits, it led to criticism from land reform campaigners who argued it was an example of wealthy absentee investors driving up land prices for private gain.
Selling agents Knight Frank say the estate’s reforestation scheme will offset an estimated 346,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime and is "approved and fully funded".
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Will Matthews, head of farms and estates at Knight Frank said: "For investors seeking to align profits with sustainability, Far Ralia represents a rare and compelling opportunity for investors to acquire a vast natural asset that can deliver both environmental and financial prospects."
Claire Whitfield, a partner in the rural consultancy team at Knight Frank, added: "Nearly 1,000,000 trees have now been planted with the remaining planting and validation of the scheme for the Woodland Carbon Code due to be undertaken later this year. There are further prospects for carbon credit generation through the restoration of the peatland."
Fraser Green, head of natural capital investment at Abrdn, said: "Over the last three years, we have taken an area of land that was previously predominantly used as a grouse moor and progressed a series of substantial environmentally beneficial activities.
"This includes restoration of native pine and birch woodland through planting and natural regeneration, with a further opportunity to restore degraded peatland, drawing input from the Natural History Museum."
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