A grassland programme championed by Plantlife and its partners received the royal seal of approval during 2021/22 when it was selected for inclusion in a high-profile report backed by The former Prince of Wales.
Grasslands+ was chosen as a case study for Terra Carta’s 2022 Impact Report, which is part of a wider project called the Sustainable Markets Initiative. The initiative was unveiled by HRH King Charles in 2020 to help the private sector accelerate its progress towards a sustainable future by placing nature, people and the planet at its heart.
Grasslands+ is a coalition of Plantlife, the Bumblebee Conservation Trust and Butterfly Conservation, and aims to protect the planet’s grasslands, savannahs, plains, steppes and meadows.
As part of the programme, the partners are calling for the restoration of 100,000 hectares of grassland in the UK, with an estimated natural capital value of billions of pounds. The coalition is now establishing the best ecological and financial models to meet this ambition. In exploring ways to effectively engage stakeholders, Plantlife represented the Grasslands+ coalition at the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow.
Inclusion in the high-profile report helped raise awareness of the project, while also demonstrating that safeguarding grasslands on an international level is crucial in the fight against climate change and for future food production. As such, it is vital that we understand the economics of their establishment and stewardship, including the use of sustainable finance markets, to enable a return on investment.
