Barrahormid Trust has bought half of the 1,350-hectare Tayvallich Estate from Highlands Rewilding.

The deal means the charity will hold the land for nature restoration and community prosperity “in perpetuity”, with a long-term operating lease set up with Highlands Rewilding – whose mission is to bolster communities and make a profit for investors through ecological restoration.

The land at Barrahormid hosts a farmhouse, farm buildings and the remains of nine crofts with several ruined properties. It is also home to rare wildlife and habitats, including native juniper bushes, Celtic rainforest and marsh fritillary butterflies, with a series of designated conservation areas.

The deal locks in the commitment to manage the land for carbon capture, biodiversity uplift and delivery of benefits to local people “essentially forever” – something the company said it could not guarantee if it retained ownership.

A spokesperson for The Barrahormid Trust said: “The Barrahormid Trust is delighted to have acquired part of the Tayvallich Estate from Highlands Rewilding. Our aims as a charity are to restore and protect in perpetuity the unique natural environment in this area including Celtic rainforest, fen and species-rich grassland, whilst providing opportunities for local repopulation and employment.

“Landscape scale restoration will be a centuries long process and we hope the extended management agreement we have entered into with HRL will serve as a model for ecological conservation and restoration with community benefit in Scotland.”

“Nature adapts slowly, but we can act now to give it the best chance for long-term success,” added Jeremy Leggett, chief executive of Highlands Rewilding. “When we work with nature, we work with necessarily long timelines, something which is too often lost in today’s economics, but which can be guaranteed through this sale of land, not to a private landowner but to a charity.

“If Highlands Rewilding were to fail in its mission, and we do not believe that it will, the charity and its purpose of nature recovery and community prosperity will continue on, safeguarding the land and boosting the chances for the long-term success of rewilding.”

The sale follows a previous deal, which saw Highlands Rewilding, which also owns two other rewilding estates – Beldorney in Aberdeenshire and Bunloit in Inverness-shire – sell two smaller plots of land to Tayvallich Initiative community group, also for housing.