In 2025, our Nature-based Solutions (NbS) team established itself as a trusted and credible bridge between National Landscapes, the communities they serve, and the ever-evolving world of green finance. Under the guidance of the Head of NbS, Hannah Wilcox Brooke, the team spent the year refining its commercial offer, deepening sector relationships, and shaping a visible, confident presence in a landscape where trust and integrity are essential to success. 

“This year, we’ve shaped strong offers from across National Landscapes, with an added bonus of a Northern Ireland offer going live,” Hannah said, “It’s been a year of turning groundwork into momentum.”

One of the most significant milestones of the past 12 months came with the team’s first corporate partnership, a collaboration with Bauer Outdoor Media that funded a digital advertising campaign for Tamar Valley National Landscape. For a team that has spent two years building a rigorous ethical charter, partnership policy and due-diligence process, this moment marked more than a commercial achievement. It was proof that National Landscapes have something powerful to offer and that businesses are ready to work with high-integrity partners who understand both ecological and community value.

Confidence in the team’s approach was further affirmed when they were invited into a closed, invite-only pitch process with a major UK brand. Alongside this exciting corporate progress, their digital platform, Your Natural Partner, continued to expand, showcasing over £4.4 million in investable opportunities, including the team’s first-ever project in Northern Ireland. The pipeline now reflects not only the wealth of opportunities National Landscapes offer, and their subsequent investment opportunities, but also the growing appetite from businesses seeking credible nature partnerships.

Establishing their presence on national and international stages, the NbS team attended 13 influential sector events, ranging from climate conferences to green finance bootcamps. Their invitations to speak at major forums such as the Blue Earth Summit and Eurosite demonstrated that National Landscapes are increasingly being recognised not just as recipients of nature funding, but as role models for high-integrity, community-rooted nature recovery. Defining their offer and elevating their profile, the team helped shape the narrative that good nature finance opportunities are grounded, place-based, and connected to people.

Throughout their busy year, the team positioned itself as a driving and informed voice in discussions shaping the future of nature markets. They joined communities of practice in both broad green finance and specialist Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) groups, responded to important government consultations and played a leading role in establishing Nature South West; a regional nature partnership that was formed to accelerate nature recovery and strengthen climate resilience across the South West of England. Taken together, these moments reflect a team that has evolved from finding its way to helping chart the course for nature recovery in National Landscapes.

At the core of the team’s efforts this year were two pioneering pilot initiatives. The first, a deep dive into BNG with Tamar Valley National Landscape, highlighting both the possibilities and the structural challenges of implementing BNG in protected areas. The insights generated from this work is already being used to influence policy discussions and advocate for approaches that allow nature and local communities to thrive together.

The second pilot, developed in collaboration with the Big Chalk partnership, is exploring how green finance can unlock transformational, landscape-scale recovery across the chalk and limestone landscapes of southern England - which cover 20% of the country. The focus is on innovation and understanding which finance models could best help realise the collective ambition of one of the UK’s biggest nature recovery programmes. 

Capacity building remained integral to the team’s work. Through a well-received webinar series on subjects including regenerative agriculture, community ownership and BNG, and through bespoke one-to-one support for landscapes developing Natural Environment Investment Readiness Fund (NEIRF) and Landscape Recovery bids, the team continued to strengthen confidence and share knowledge across the network.

The Your Natural Partner platform has become an anchor in these efforts, providing a space where vision can be translated into clear, investable propositions, opening the door for meaningful collaboration with the private sector. If 2025 made anything clear, it’s that the UK is rich in high-quality nature projects but still short on committed demand from businesses and investors and bridging that gap will be critical in the years ahead.

The team also discovered that this fast-paced sector’s language is shifting. ‘Resilience’ has become a unifying term, offering a way to speak holistically about ecosystems, communities, climate and biodiversity and the move is toward models that prioritise community connection and local ownership.

With the groundwork laid, the team is stepping into 2026 with energy and ambition. The year will begin with a business-facing showcase at Somerset House, created in collaboration with National Parks Partnership, where National Landscapes will present a diverse suite of investable projects to an audience of potential partners.

The team also plans to extend its work on regenerative agriculture, strengthen its collaboration with Defra, and develop its commercial offer to meet business needs without compromising environmental or social integrity.
Hannah said: “Nature markets continue to evolve rapidly and I’m deeply proud of the way our team has met that challenge with clarity, creativity and an unwavering commitment to people and nature.”

New partnerships, new sectors, and new opportunities lie ahead in the next 12 months and the NbS team remains collaborative, ambitious and committed to ensuring that people and nature continue to thrive together.