BBC Springwatch host estate in Norfolk goes carbon positive

Wild Ken Hill, near Snettisham, claims the result of its recent carbon audit is a "hugely significant step forward for the future of our planet".

The nature-friendly estate worked with Farm Carbon Toolkit, an independent, farmer-led enterprise, to find ways to measure and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

They used a "carbon calculator" which measures both the emissions and sequestration on farms.

The study shows Wild Ken Hill emitted around 800 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2021, but offset or sequestered - or removed - around 4,000 tonnes.

The estate says this shows a net total of around 3,200 tonnes of carbon dioxide was sequestered, estimated to be the equivalent of the emissions created by 6,000 commercial flights from London to New York.

Estate managers said the carbon audit proves the value of their "three-pronged approach" of rewilding, regenerative farming and traditional conservation.

Dominic Buscall, project manager at Wild Ken Hill (Image: Wild Ken Hill)

Dominic Buscall, project manager at Wild Ken Hill, said: "Alongside restoring nature and benefiting our local communities, fighting climate change is right at the heart of the Wild Ken Hill ethos.

"This was only reinforced with unprecedented warm and dry weather ruining crop yields and even causing a wildfire here in July.

"It's therefore very encouraging to see that the new land uses we are using have turned our enterprise net zero, and in fact gone well beyond that marker."

Nick Padwick, farms and estate director, added: "These results are particularly satisfying for me because they demonstrate the power of the regenerative farming practices we began in 2019.

"This style of farming - which restores soil health whilst producing good volumes of food - is actually allowing us to store carbon in our farmland soils, and that's one of the main reasons Wild Ken Hill as a whole has achieved such a strong carbon balance."

Regenerative farmland at Wild Ken Hill (Image: Wild Ken Hill)