As part of Hogan Lovells’ rewilding initiative and pro bono commitment to tackle the critical issue of biodiversity loss in the UK, the firm advised its UK fundraising charity partner, The Wildlife Trusts, to advance their commitment to restoring temperate rainforests in Britain.
The advice provided by London-based partner Phil Brown and associate Lucy Royle enabled The Wildlife Trusts to benefit from an exciting £38 million donation from Aviva Group, as part of Aviva’s wider commitment to spend £100m on nature-based solutions projects in the UK and Ireland to help tackle the interlinked nature and climate emergency.
A fifth of the UK was once covered with glorious Atlantic rainforests, but now only 1% remains. Creating and connecting wild landscapes is vital for nature’s recovery, combatting climate change and adapting to its impacts. Communities will be at the heart of these new projects and local people will be instrumental in ensuring their success.
The partnership is particularly relevant to the legacy of COP15 in December 2022 which resulted in the landmark adoption of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. This is intended not only to halt biodiversity loss, but to reverse it, by putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030.
The Aviva donation will enable The Wildlife Trusts to substantially increase their efforts to address the nature and climate crises. The programme will allow restored natural habitats to store carbon whilst simultaneously ensuring a brighter future for the threatened species that inhabit Atlantic rainforests – from red squirrels and pied flycatchers to luxuriant lichens and globally rare fungi.
Partner Philip Brown said, “We are delighted to have been able to help the great team at The Wildlife Trusts to secure funding for the Atlantic rainforest project, with huge carbon and biodiversity benefits. As the nature crisis deepens, we continue to be committed to our rewilding initiative and efforts on innovation in environmental protection.”
Craig Bennett, chief executive of The Wildlife Trusts says:
“Huge thanks to Hogan Lovells for all its amazing pro bono support – we owe the team so much! We can’t wait to get started restoring Britain’s magical rainforests so that these special places and the wildlife that depends on them can thrive once more. The task of helping nature recover so that habitats can store carbon has never been more urgent – our natural world is in fast decline and we’re in a climate crisis. We’re very excited that we’ll now be able to work with many more communities to help nature fight back, improve climate resilience and enhance the lives of all those involved through these amazing projects.”
To learn more about the how The Wildlife Trusts and Aviva are restoring rainforests see New fund to help The Wildlife Trusts restore rainforests of Britain. You might also like to watch the Channel 4 News report: Rare rainforests will be restored after huge charity donation – YouTube.
