At the launch of our first book, Scaling Conservation: The Business of Restoring the Wild, our team took to the stage for a live Q&A with some of the sharpest minds in the natural capital space. Among the many insightful questions, one has stayed with me. It came from our parent company’s General Counsel, the brilliantly incisive Matt Gingell—a man whose thinking cuts through complexity with disarming clarity. He asked, simply and powerfully: How does the Oxygen Conservation team stay so relentlessly optimistic in the face of the climate and biodiversity crises? It’s a question I haven’t stopped thinking about. Here’s my best attempt at answering it.
Activity is the Antidote for Anxiety
Our optimism is grounded in purposeful, meaningful action. It’s not a mask; it’s a hard-earned belief that the work we do truly matters—ecologically, socially, and economically.
At Oxygen Conservation, anxiety has no room to grow because we’re always in motion. Whether restoring ecosystems, removing outdated infrastructure, rewetting peatlands, or reimagining landscapes, we act decisively. Movement is medicinal. Action is a core value.
Example: At Dorback, we welcomed members of the local community to the Estate within 24 hours of completing the deal – demonstrating our immediate commitment to delivering environmental and social impact.
Indicators of Impact
We aim for irreversible ecological and systemic transformation. When silent landscapes begin to sing again, when degraded land bursts with new life, we know we’re doing something right.
Example: At Swineley, vole populations exploded following the removal of sheep, drawing back birds of prey and dramatically reshaping local biodiversity in just months.
Learning from the Land
Nature isn’t our backdrop—it’s our collaborator. It challenges our assumptions and teaches us patience. We prioritise being on the ground, observing, listening, and learning. Our results aren’t conceptual. They’re tangible, messy, and real.
Example: At Esgair Arth, we freed ancient rainforest from the grip of historic fencing and outdated farming infrastructure – restoring natural processes while planting new woodland.
Earned Optimism
Optimism here isn’t theoretical—it’s built in the field. In the moments where you’re drenched, tired, and still smiling because the land is responding.
Example: We’ve travelled hundreds of thousands of miles, visited hundreds of estates and walked many miles to identify the best opportunities to deliver positive impact and generate a profit as a result not as the purpose of what we do.
Scaling People and Progress
Every new hire, every estate, every deal, and every acre is proof that scale and impact can coexist. Our people are living, breathing proof of possibility.
Example: We’ve created nearly 40 new roles across the natural capital economy – blending economists with engineers, data scientists with adventurers – to form an elite, impact-driven group.
Recruiting for the Extraordinary
We hire for potential. For vision. For drive. We’re looking for those who see the world differently and have the courage to act.
Example: We’ve worked hard to professionalise the environmental sector through ambition and audacity – attracting almost 2,000 applicants for our intern programme in 2024, building a pipeline of sector-shaping talent.
From Belief to Reality
Believing in transformation is one thing. Building it is another. We don’t just envision systems change—we execute it.
Example: Our premium carbon credits have broken the world record for the highest price paid (£125 per tonne), by committing to quality and refusing to follow the norms of the voluntary carbon market.
Culture in Motion
Oxygen Conservation isn’t a traditional organisation – engage with us and you’ll feel it. It’s a movement of highly motivated people aligned in purpose and unreasonable in their commitment to delivery.
Example: Our sector-leading ‘Shoot Room Sessions’ podcast invites our team and wider sector to share their honest reflections – embedding transparency and shared learning.
Positivity Through Performance
Our optimism is forged – not found. It emerges from doing hard things well, together. We are privileged to have access to the landscapes our work is changing for the better, and we spend time in them together as a team as often as we possibly can – and that connection matters.
Example: This isn’t an easy place to work – and it’s not meant to be. High standards demand constant growth. We’ve seen good people come and go, but every new recruit raises the bar for the whole team; we only recruit people better than us in a meaningful way.
Driven by Purpose
Purpose propels us. It overrides fear, silences hesitation, and fuels action. We’re building systems that regenerate nature and redefine value.
Example: We’ve rejected hundreds of millions in external investment – because it would have compromised our culture and ability to deliver authentically. Purpose guides every decision.
A Working Model for the Future
We’re a prototype – a living, breathing vision of the future of the natural capital company. A fully operational model of what conservation can be when performance, purpose, and delivery align.
This isn’t just a narrative. It’s a call to action; yes, one of those that every thought piece is supposed to include. A challenge to every complacent compromise masquerading as change.
And here’s the truth: I’m not even sure we’re truly optimistic.
I think we’re just too immersed in action, too focused on outcomes, and too privileged to work alongside the most brilliant people I’ve ever met to think about anything else.