Earlier this year, against the backdrop of birdsong and barge traffic at Camley Street Natural Park in King’s Cross, we gathered with businesses, government, conservationists and project leaders to mark the next chapter of Projects for Nature – the UK Government’s funding platform for nature recovery, now hosted by Spacehive.
It was a fitting setting. Camley Street is a two-acre pocket of wilderness wedged between St Pancras station and the Regent’s Canal, proof that nature and commerce can share the same postcode. What’s more, the event space was in fact a Spacehive project from 2019!
England has lost more of its biodiversity than almost any country in the world, and the scale of recovery needed is beyond what public funding alone can deliver. Projects for Nature exists to close that gap, connecting businesses with government-screened nature recovery projects across the country – from chalk stream restoration in Cambridge to saltmarsh preservation in Essex, rewilding in Somerset to flood-resilient farming in the Lake District.
The platform has already mobilised over £800,000 of private investment, with commitments set to double. Now, hosted by Spacehive, it’s ready to scale.
The event brought together a cross-section of the nature finance ecosystem. Mary Creagh, Minister for Nature, set the tone, affirming that “once we put nature on the balance sheet, it can’t be ignored” and reminding the room that nature is “the monopoly provider for everything that needs to exist.”
Justin Francis OBE chaired a panel that captured both the urgency and the opportunity. Ben Mitchell, representing Lloyds Banking Group – a multi-project funder through Projects for Nature – described the platform as “the perfect vehicle to get involved” in nature recovery funding, reflecting on how it had helped translate corporate intent into tangible projects on the ground.
Jonathan Simnett, Chair of Trustees at Heal Rewilding, spoke passionately about their agile, commercially-driven rewilding model in Somerset that received over £160,000 from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks via Projects for Nature. Heal’s example is a reminder that high-impact nature recovery often comes from organisations willing to test, learn and move fast.
Every business depends on biodiversity, and every business impacts it – a finding made explicit in the recent Business and Biodiversity Assessment signed off by 152 countries at the IPBES meeting in Manchester. Nature loss is a systemic risk to every sector, and to economic growth itself.
Projects for Nature gives businesses a credible, transparent route to act on that risk. Projects are screened by Defra, the Environment Agency and Natural England. Funders are vetted to ensure their investment is genuinely additional. And through Spacehive’s real-time impact reporting, donors can see exactly where their money goes and what it delivers – data they can use for board reporting, sustainability disclosures and external communications.
Joining the next chapter
Spacehive’s role is to put nature back where it belongs: on the boardroom agenda, in the procurement conversation, on the balance sheet. We’re working with Government and business to connect corporate donations with large-scale nature recovery, and to build the pipeline of credible projects that businesses can back with confidence.
If you’re a business ready to invest in nature recovery, get in touch. If you’re an individual moved by a particular project, you can donate directly. And if you’re a land manager or environmental organisation with a project worth backing, sign up for updates on how to join the platform.
Nature is on the balance sheet now. Let’s keep it there.