Expanding Horizons in UK Carbon Market Opportunities for Land Managers: Introducing Wilder Carbon and Swallowtail Consulting
Across estates, farmer clusters and Landscape Recovery groups, decisions about land use are becoming more complex — and more consequential. Choices around habitat restoration, farming systems and land-use change increasingly need to balance public funding, private markets, biodiversity outcomes and long-term resilience.
The challenge is not simply identifying new revenue streams, but understanding which ecosystem service opportunities are credible, appropriate and robust before land is committed. The range of options is expanding, but so too is the level of complexity — making early, well-informed decision-making important.
One increasingly important option in the appraisal is Wilder Carbon — and we’re pleased to share that Swallowtail Consulting is now a Licensed Wilder Carbon Consultant, with Project Developer status expected to follow very shortly.
What is Wilder Carbon?
Wilder Carbon is a UK-based carbon and nature standard designed specifically to support high-integrity habitat restoration across a wide range of landscapes. Unlike single-habitat carbon codes, it recognises that many real-world projects deliver carbon, biodiversity and ecosystem services together, often through mosaic or mixed habitat outcomes.
At the heart of Wilder Carbon is the Carbon + Habitat Tool, which Swallowtail uses to help land managers explore how different habitat and land-use pathways could perform across carbon, biodiversity, ecological integrity and eligibility under a recognised UK standard.
For land managers, its value lies in providing a robust appraisal framework to compare land-use and habitat options and test assumptions early — alongside a clear and credible route to full project development and unit issuance where Wilder Carbon proves to be the right strategic choice.
A differentiated option alongside existing carbon routes
Wilder Carbon is not intended to replace established routes such as the Woodland Carbon Code or Peatland Code, which remain highly appropriate for clearly defined woodland creation or peat restoration projects.
However, it can be a more versatile option where projects involve mosaic habitats or process-led restoration, operate at landscape scale (including multi-holding estates and clusters), or where land managers want to consider carbon and biodiversity together rather than sequentially.
It also provides a UK-based alternative to international carbon standards such as Verra, which may not always align with local objectives or governance expectations.
Why this matters for Landscape Recovery and landscape-scale projects
For Landscape Recovery groups in particular, the pressure is on to evidence additionality and public value, avoid over-claiming private market revenues, and demonstrate that private finance options have been properly explored and stress-tested.
Wilder Carbon can support this by acting as a decision-support and valuation lens in multi-habitat projects, helping groups understand what carbon and nature value might be achievable, what is likely to be eligible and credible. This should be explored during the Project Development Phase (PDP) to support a Blended Finance Plan deliverable.
How Swallowtail can help
As a Licensed Wilder Carbon Consultant, Swallowtail Consulting can support land managers, estates, clusters and Landscape Recovery groups to assess land-use and habitat options using the Carbon + Habitat Tool, compare outcomes across scenarios, understand eligibility considerations, and position Wilder Carbon appropriately alongside other ecosystem service markets and public funding — while avoiding over-reliance on optimistic or speculative carbon assumptions.
Where Wilder Carbon is identified as a suitable and credible route, and as Swallowtail moves into Project Developer status, we will also be able to support projects through detailed development, registration and validation, with the selling of Wilder Carbon Estimated Issuance Units (EIUs) then being facilitated.
Importantly, this fits within Swallowtail’s wider natural-capital-led approach, ensuring Wilder Carbon is considered part of a balanced, long-term land-use strategy—not in isolation.
Starting the right conversation
Whether you are exploring long-term land-use change, developing a Landscape Recovery project, or assessing how different ecosystem services could stack up across your land, early clarity matters.
If you’d like to explore how Wilder Carbon — alongside other options — could inform better decisions on your land, we’d be glad to talk.
