COMMUNITIES FOR NATURE
Common works with local communities across the UK to help them buy and manage land for nature recovery, protecting them for current and future generations.
HOW IT WORKS
Our model is rooted in community action, balancing local heritage and aspirations with national expertise on land management and community business.
We help communities to crowdfund, doubling amounts raised from the Common Match Fund (created with Esmee Fairbairn Foundation), and completed by other partner impact investors.
Collaborating with Common means joining a dynamic nationwide network of community land projects, a fellowship of insight, resources and support.
our partners
“Though rich in places, Britain as a whole is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Never has there been a more important time to invest in our own wildlife, to try and set an example for the rest of the world, and restore our once wild isles for future generations.”
Sir David Attenborough, 2023
our ethical tenets
COMMUNITy
We give local people a chance to own and protect nature on their doorstep. We reconnect people to their local wild places, which provides a range of social, physical and mental health benefits. Nature-positive revenue streams then allow communities to cover their costs for land management and local skills.
NATURE
Our land management principles enable sustainable ecosystems to thrive. Each Land Management Plan will recognise unique local characteristics, and be developed in close consultation with local communities, transferring skills to them in the process.
Economy
Ensuring the long-term protection of woodlands, wetlands and heaths, will enable the sequestration of carbon from the ground and atmosphere as well as promote the recovery of insects, birds, mammals, waterways and soil health.
TIME FOR NATURE RECOVERY
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. And yet we are a nation of nature lovers.
Biodiversity levels have declined by more than 70% since 1970 and woodland cover is at 13.3%, compared to a European average of 38% (notwithstanding differences in population density). Tree cover in the UK is increasing but too slowly to meet our decarbonisation goals: the Government is failing to meet its target of 300,000 Ha per year, in order to reach net zero by 2050.
Britain also ranks bottom in Europe for nature connectedness. Out of 14 nations surveyed, UK citizens measured lowest for their oneness with the natural world.
READ OUR BLOG
Highlights from the Forest of Dean Biosphere Partner Conference
Last week, Common’s Head of Projects attended the Forest of Dean’s UNESCO Biosphere Partner Conference at The Wilderness Centre, Mitcheldean. As a key partner organisation, Common is working alongside the ...
Beyond GDP: Takeaways for Partners from the Wales Wellbeing Conference 2025
The Wales Wellbeing Conference 2025 in Swansea brought together leaders, policymakers, and practitioners to address the core question: How do we practically deliver a genuinely wellbeing-focused economy in Wales? For ...
Common selected as one of the BE100
Thanks to Blue Earth for picking Common out of almost 1000 companies to be a part of this year’s BE100. This will shine a light on our incredible team’s mission ...
Insights from an evening with Sir Partha Dasgupta
The pioneering economist of biodiversity, author of the eponymous report (https://lnkd.in/eZRkNA_Z), came to London for an evening’s discussion hosted by Prosper and Founders Pledge. 1. We have GDP (gross domestic ...
Reflections from the Creating Nature Neighbourhoods conference
The most energised housekeeping we’ve ever heard set the tone for the day. Rory from the Nature Towns and Cities team jumped to the mic and turned what’s usually a ...
DTA Wales: Autumn Conference
As a proud member of DTA Wales, the Common team recently participated in their engaging Autumn Conference, held at the beautifully refurbished Plaza Theatre, home to YMCA Port Talbot. DTA ...
Learnings from the Agroforestry Show
In September, Woodoaks Farm in Hertfordshire hosted The Agroforestry Show: part festival, part field day, part buffet. We went along with our heads, hearts and appetites open. Here’s what we ...
Cymunedoli Cymoedd: A Story of Hope and Action
Last night in Pontypridd, representatives from across the Valleys gathered for the launch of Cymunedoli Cymoedd: A Valleys Story. This isn’t just another report; it’s the culmination of three community ...
Community session at Groundswell draws leaders and an audience of 400
🌳 Groundswell Agriculture 2025 is a wrap, and the Common team were blown away by the experience. Despite almost no sleep across two nights of camping ⛺ we felt topped ...
Common to host session at Groundswell 2025
Common can announce that we’ll be hosting a session at the 2025 Groundswell festival, the UK’s pre-eminent food, framing and nature hoe-down: How to Build a Movement of Community Nature ...
The Observer features Common (12.4.25)
The Observer ran a two-page feature on the UK rewilding scene in April 2025. Despite the somewhat clickbait title, the article is a hopeful survey of ground-up initiatives to acquire ...
Standing Room Only at St Briavels
The Common team alongside the Lindors Wood Steering Group held a meeting at the St Briavels Assembly Room on Thursday 10 April. On a balmy spring evening, the bar was ...
Woodland Savers is now Common
What’s in a name change? In 2015, most people probably paid no attention when the tech company Google changed its name to Alphabet. Nor indeed did many in 1997 when ...
Learning and networking with partners at Forest Research
4 December 2024: the Woodland Savers team along with colleagues from Lawyers for Nature, Woodknowledge Wales and Pryor & Rickett Silviculture made the trip to Alice Holt Lodge in Surrey ...
Community land buyout meeting in Gweek, Cornwall
On 2 November 2024, Woodland Savers worked with colleagues from Plant One CIC, My Little Farm, and Thousand Year Trust to convene a community meeting in the village of Gweek, ...
Meet the woodland saviours battling bulldozers (The Times)
If you take a train south from London Bridge station you may just catch a glimpse of Gorne Wood, a flash of green beside the tracks as you rattle between ...
A tour of Community Land Projects in Scotland
Two founders of the Borders Forest Trust (in red), a ranger, two sheepdogs, and a visiting group from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust stood for this picture at the head of the ...
Woodland Savers is now fully funded and launched.
We’re here to ask – and answer – some vital questions: ? How can communities help reverse nature decline? ? How can the capital needed for nature recovery be ...
Meet the team
In September 2021, the idea for Common was born when co-founders, media lawyer Tamsin Allen, eco filmmaker Franny Armstrong and television director Adam Wishart, crowdfunded £500k to buy and reunite three lots of ancient woodland in Devon.
Since then, the team, their funders and advisors have been working to enable more communities to reclaim their local landscapes and protect them for generations to come.
