Returning Scotland to Nature

 Anders Povlsen, the Danish billionaire, owns more of the UK than the Queen and the Church of Scotland combined. He has toppled the aristocracy who for years laid claim to such a title, the Duke of Buccleuch. Not only the UK’s largest private landowner, he is also Scotland’s richest man, with a fortune of £4.73 billion.

While the likes of Mohammed al Fayed (from Egypt) and the Wirths (from Switzerland) have made  their Scottish estates holiday accommodation, Povlsen plans doing something different altogether. He is seeking to ‘rewild’ his vast estates and return them to an earlier nature.

In total, Povlsen has acquired about 230,000 acres of Britain between his 13 estates, worth more than £120 million. In terms of his Scottish estates, Povlsen owns Glenfeshie in the Cairngorms, the Strathmore estate at Altnaharra, the 24,000-acre Ben Loyal and the 23,000-acre Ben Hope estate near Tongue. His acquisition of the Killiehuntly farm for £2 million means he owns the land where the artist Sir Edwin Landseer painted the legendary, The Monarch of the Glen. Then there’s the £15 million Aldourie Castle estate by Loch Ness and the 20,000-acre Gaick estate he bought from Xavier-Louis Vuitton (of the French fashion dynasty).

His rewilding vision is to allow native woodland and species to regenerate and flourish. Povlsen aims to return animal species by undoing centuries of over-grazing and regenerating native woodlands and wetlands. It’s notable that across Povlsen’s lands there have been increased sightings of red squirrels, pine martens and golden eagles, as well as reforesting.

As Povslen explains, "This [the Highlands] is not a natural environment any more — when you’re out there and there’s only heather, heather, heather. In some places you will not be able to see a single tree for miles. Then we dig into the peat and you will find it used to be a forest..."

Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen on his ‘rewilding’ mission in Scotland | Tatler