LONGER READ: New green laird Rich Stockdale talks scaling conservation in the Cairngorms
The new owners of Dorback Estate have said they are keen that the land there not only benefits the environment but also local people.
Oxygen Conservation has also said that it is not out to make a fast buck from the former shooting estate by Nethy Bridge which extends to more than 45,000 acres.
Instead the boss of the Exeter-based company Rich Stockdale told the Strathy in an exclusive interview they want to be long-term custodians.
The firm recently announced the ‘latest milestone in our journey to scale conservation’ but many residents in the strath were left wondering what exactly that could mean.
Dorback is the latest estate to be bought by firms which operate in the carbon credit and rewilding market.
It follows on from more high profile ventures notably BrewDog’s ‘Lost Forest’ at Kinrara and Far Ralia put on the market last summer for £12m by abrdn Property Income Trust Limited.
The former in particular has attracted negative headlines over the work which has taken place on the estate by Kincraig and the lack of local input.
Mr Stockdale said transparency was hugely important to him and his company as is listening to those best placed to know the right answers.
“I think everyone should remain skeptical and ask lots of questions,” he said.
“One of my rules is to be radically transparent about everything we do as a company.
“It is why I have published hundreds of articles on Linkedin; it is why we have a podcast which has released 90 episodes and why - within 24 hours of buying the estate - we opened the doors of the main house for the first time and welcomed the neighbours and the staff.
“There were 40 to 50 people in the room and I asked for a show of hands who had stepped foot in the main house before and only estate employees had.”
As an aside, he said: “At the end of the meeting one of the neighbours asked the room to give us a round of applause because we had brought up 10 of our team:
“He said they had expected an absentee landowner who would not tell them anything and that ‘we did not expect the CEO and most of the team to be there’.
“We have never had a round of applause like that before so that was really special.”
Mr Stockdale, who founded Oxygen Conservation three years ago and is CEO, said that they are absolutely up for ‘the challenge and the debate’.
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But he pointed out “The flip side of that is that you can not make all of the people happy all of the time.
“In the past week I have had emails saying that we need to kill more deer on the estate and we need to kill less deer and even have no deer at all.
“We will always listen but we might not always agree.”
Mr Stockdale said the he and his staff are driven by socio and environmental aims: “We do not come from a financial background.
“We are all environmentalists… we want to do the right thing by the environment but we also do not pre-suppose that we know all of the answers.”
He said that not a huge amount would change at Dorback over the next 12 months whilst assessments and consultations are carried out.
Mr Stockdale explained: “Our view is that we listen and learn as best we can for a year so we can see the seasons through, take opinion on board, baseline the ecology and then we start to deliver our plans.”
As for consulting local residents on the estate’s future, he said: “It is beyond willing, we are absolutely desperate to.”
He said they had expected an absentee landowner who would not tell them anything and that ‘we did not expect the CEO and most of the team to be there
He said two community events had already been held by Oxygen Conservation and there was another booked for April.
The estate team have all ‘thankfully’ agreed to remain and local contracts will remain in place and new opportunities created.
Mr Stockdale explained: “We make properties available as much as possible either for local rental or for eco-tourism and our intention is to open up the main lodge when this can be agreed to welcome more people to the estate.”
He has described the Cairngorms National Park - as someone looking on from afar - as ‘the most ambitious part of the country talking about nature restoration’ and he was ‘super glad’ the estate was acquired after a deal taking almost 12 months.
He declined to reveal the final price tag.
There are some non-negotiables for the new estate owners who want ‘more space for nature, more space for people’.
They will not stock birds for shooting, there will be no muirburning or use of chemicals and fertilizers and fences will be removed where possible.
There will be no predator control on Dorback land - another issue which attracts criticism from the gamekeeping community.
“I do not recognise predators as a term,” Mr Stockdale said.
“I do not want to kill anything.”
He said controlling deer numbers towards government targets was done at his direction, adding: “I carry that heavy and I do not like it.”
Mr Stockdale appreciates that their methods will not be popular with everyone.
Premium carbon credits are the obvious source of revenue.
Mr Stockdale said: “We need to find out what planting in the right place looks like and if that means it is suitable for public funding we would love that support.
“We have used a lot of natural regeneration before in our projects where it is suitable but in order to get the speed of nature recovery that we need then we need regeneration now - we sadly left sustainability in the 1980s.
So how else can a return be made on the estate?
Mr Stockdale said that using just the one tool is not the answer: “We think a key part is owning the underlying land as then we can increase the value of that over time time by treating it respectfully, by not burning it, by taking the pesticides away, by sorting out legal title arrangements and make it a really good asset.”
Biodiversity Net Gains (BNG) credits could be another revenue raiser if and when adopted in Scotland.
There are currently two derelict properties on the estate and they could be used to provide affordable housing.
Businesses in line with their ethos could also potentially be welcomed onto the estate.
The whole venture is being financed by the private equity and venture capital firm Oxygen House Group.
Mr Stockdale said: “This gives us the unique ability to do the right thing for the environment and right thing for people. There is a lot more investment to come before any return will be seen.”
He pointed out: “Dorback is an incredible estate - it is beautiful. The amount of wildlife that is there is fantastic already but it could be so much more. In the 10 to 20 years to come it will be even more special.”
That could even include the return of capercaillie.
Mr Stockdale said: “Whilst there is suggestion of some evidence of capercaillie movement at Dorback, sadly we do not have them nesting on the estate. Hopefully we will in future.”
But he stresses that people will also be made very welcome on Dorback Estate’s land.
“Of course there is the Right to Roam but beyond that people are welcome to roam - we would love to see people,” he said.
“We want to intervene with the landscape as little as possible and keep it authentic through wild and natural processes.
“But people are a key part of the environment so sometimes the best thing we can do is to improve the existing infrastructure.
“Would I be open to more access and cycle tracks? Absolutely once we know more about the landscape and if Strathy readers have ideas we would definitely like to hear from them.”
After the cloak and dagger acquistions of estates down the years in the strath, it is refreshing to hear so clearly from a member of the new order of green lairds.
