Peatland restoration in the North Pennines is being given a boost through a new collaboration between Newmarket Holidays and the National Landscapes Association, opening up opportunities to support nature recovery across more of the UK’s National Landscapes.
Since 2024, Newmarket Holidays has contributed more than £85,000 to peatland restoration in the North Pennines National Landscape, helping to restore these internationally important places, delivering more for nature and communities.
The new partnership with the National Landscapes Association is creating a route for the travel company to broaden its support and invest in high-impact nature projects across National Landscapes.
The Newmarket team on a recent field visit to the North Pennines
For the Association, the partnership demonstrates the growing opportunity to connect businesses that want to make a real contribution to nature recovery with ambitious, locally led projects that can deliver change on the ground.
Amber Lauder, Senior Development Officer at National Landscapes Association, said: “Developing strong partnerships with corporate supporters is critical to the work we do. Newmarket Holidays has already played a pivotal role in helping to restore precious peatland across the North Pennines and this renewed investment means we can extend the reach and impact of that work.”
Rasme Ozdemir "Our expanded partnership with the National Landscapes Association means that for every customer who travels with us, we're actively funding the restoration of some of the UK's most important landscapes."
For Newmarket Holidays, the new partnership provides an opportunity to extend the environmental impact of its Travel for Good programme while continuing to support practical conservation and restoration work.
Rasme Ozdemir, Head of Service and Sustainability at Newmarket Holidays, said: "Travel has an extraordinary power to connect people with the world, and with that comes a responsibility to protect it. Degraded peatlands alone account for around 4% of the UK's total carbon emissions and restoring these are crucial in contributing towards global climate emission goals. Our expanded partnership with the National Landscapes Association means that for every customer who travels with us, we're actively funding the restoration of some of the UK's most important landscapes."
The partnership builds on the impact already being achieved in the North Pennines, where investment has supported the restoration of damaged peatland.
Healthy peatlands are powerful natural assets. Restoring them keeps carbon locked in the ground, improve water quality, provide and reconnect habitats for wildlife, and help landscapes hold and slowly release water, increasing their resilience to both flooding and periods of low rainfall.
Paul Leadbitter, Peatland Programme Manager at North Pennines National Landscape, said: “This is another example of how our team, now supported by the National Landscapes Association, is developing new green finance opportunities, where high impact and high-quality nature restoration is supported by the private sector. This blended finance approach allows us to contribute significantly to the UK’s nature targets and continue to deliver peatland restoration at scale in the North Pennines National Landscape.”
The National Landscapes Association is increasingly working with businesses and funders looking for credible opportunities to invest in nature recovery. By bringing together the expertise and ambitions of National Landscapes with organisations seeking to create positive environmental impact, partnerships can help unlock additional funding for work that might otherwise not be possible.
John Watkins “We need to unlock new and sustained investment in nature. By working with businesses that want to make a real difference, the Association can help spread and scale success into all National Landscapes.”
John Watkins, Head of Service and Sustainability at Newmarket Holidays, said: “Building resilient landscapes for the future requires ambition, collaboration and investment. Partnerships like this help us to turn shared ambitions for nature into practical action; restoring habitats, strengthening landscapes and supporting the communities that depend on them.
“We need to unlock new and sustained investment in nature. By working with businesses that want to make a real difference, the Association can help spread and scale success into all National Landscapes.”
The ambition is also to build on successful models such as the work in the North Pennines and explore where similar approaches could support projects elsewhere. With 46 National Landscapes across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is significant potential to connect future partners with projects responding to the particular needs and opportunities of individual landscapes.
This could include work to restore peatlands, rivers and freshwater habitats, create and reconnect wildlife-rich habitats, support regenerative approaches to land management and strengthen landscapes against the impacts of a changing climate.
Interested in working with us?
We are developing opportunities for businesses, investors and funders to support ambitious nature recovery across National Landscapes. If your organisation is looking for meaningful ways to invest in nature and create lasting impact, we’d like to hear from you. Contact Amber Lauder, Senior Development Officer
