Watch the video to see what Volans got up to at Papley Grove Farm.

Around 84% of people in the UK live in urban areas, disconnecting us from the land upon which our lives depend. We are only as healthy as the rest of nature. Yet even those of us working on issues such as biodiversity loss and soil degradation rarely understand what those mean ‘on the ground’.  

At Volans, our CEO Louise is constantly urging us to get immersed in what we do and not stand on the sidelines. So last week we got to put our hands in the soil and “count the worms” on a regenerative farm. Courtesy of Martin Lines of the Nature Friendly Farming Network at Papley Grove Farm in St Neots, UK.

We were shown in great technical detail – supported by satellite imagery and other forms of data capture – how Martin has been able to revive his soil and restore lost species of plants, insects and wildlife. Which, in turn, is improving the finances of his farming business. 

Volans has built a growing body of work in support of clients seeking to accelerate agriculture’s transition to net zero and restore nature across the UK. So, we know that Martin’s story is unfortunately not common. We also realise that it takes a huge amount of tenacity and effort to keep going as a farmer full stop in our broken system. 

To this end, Volans facilitated a working group for Bankers for Net Zero made up of banks, farmers (including Martin), standard setters, economists, supermarkets and others to produce a set of 6 policy recommendations in the briefing ‘Fertile Ground’ which you can find here.

We are also working with SOSE on co-creating a narrative for the South of Scotland agriculture sector. SOSE would like to tell the story of the sector’s journey so far, and how it can strive towards net zero with ambition, action and collaboration.