TRUE North European Real Estate Partners has launched a new investment fund looking for UK farmland suitable for tree planting.

Land is now being identified that would be suitable for the transition from grazing to woodland, working with farmers and landowners looking to release capital. This would be appropriate for areas typically over 200 acres in size, or an entire farm where the land is suited to forestry, True North said.

The institutionally backed Forestry Carbon Sequestration Fund has raised an initial £30 million equity target with Willis Towers Watson, for investment in suitable land, with further funding potential available should targets be reached.

James Jackson, True North CIO and fund manager, commented: “We are in the process of identifying farmland suitable for tree planting, providing farmers and landowners with the opportunity to release capital from suitable land sales. This might allow for restructuring of an existing business; provide the opportunity to expand or introduce new enterprises through diversification; or provide the means by which to downsize or retire, potentially with the opportunity to continue to live in a residential property on the farm.

“The result will not be the squares of monoculture Sitka spruce of the past; instead sensitive ecological designs will ensure that planting is individually designed and right for the area in which it is situated, with local stakeholders engaged with on the design. We are seeking to deliver premium timber that will have long-term use in construction that will lock up carbon beyond harvest.”

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