The 3,668-acre Far Ralia estate in the Cairngorms is on the market for £12 million, three years after an investment trust managed by Standard Life, now Abrdn, purchased it for £7.5 million.

Acquired to mitigate carbon emissions from its properties and eventually trade carbon credits, the purchase faced criticism from land reform advocates who saw it as wealthy absentee investors inflating land prices for personal gain.

According to Knight Frank, the estate’s reforestation project is expected to offset approximately 346,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide over its lifetime and is ‘approved and fully funded.’

MORE NEWS | Risks remain in global pork market

MORE NEWS | Lincoln Proteins acquires Dundas Chemical Company

Will Matthews, Knight Frank’s head of farms and estates, stated: "For investors seeking to align profits with sustainability, Far Ralia represents a rare and compelling opportunity for investors to acquire a vast natural asset that can deliver both environmental and financial prospects.

Claire Whitfield, a partner in Knight Frank’s rural consultancy team, mentioned: " Nearly 1,000,000 trees have now been planted with the remaining planting and validation of the scheme for the Woodland Carbon Code due to be undertaken later this year. There are further prospects for carbon credit generation through the restoration of the peatland.”

Fraser Green, head of natural capital investment at Abrdn, commented: "Over the last three years, we have taken an area of land that was previously predominantly used as a grouse moor and progressed a series of substantial environmentally beneficial activities.

"This includes restoration of native pine and birch woodland through planting and natural regeneration, with a further opportunity to restore degraded peatland, drawing input from the Natural History Museum."