Our Founder

Richard Clarke, MSc BSc

Managing Director

Our Founder and Managing Director, Richard Clarke is a British-born zoologist and conservationist with a passion for nature, biodiversity and for the environment as a whole.

Highland Carbon was launched in 2017 as an ethical business to pioneer the supply of conservation-grade UK carbon units.

Richard was inspired to bring a landscape conservation framework to the UK carbon market. How do we achieve this aim? We carefully select where our projects are located - in spectacular, wild locations that are important to rare and endangered. Our projects are typically either very large, of exceptional local importance or both.

In practice we work in order to:

Enhance and expand existing quality habitats.
Create corridors to join-up separate natural areas.
Establish conservation buffers to critically important nature reserves, Sites of Special Scientific Interest or other important wildlife areas.

For example, we could connect an existing Nature Reserve with a mature, coniferous forest, by bridging the two with a new woodland project in between.

Our forest projects comprise a diverse array of species. We actively reintroduce rare and lost tree species, such as aspen, to inspirational landscapes. We also restore other important habitats, such as peatlands, salt marshes, dry meadows, wet meadows, heathland, river banks, wetland scrapes and more.

At Highland Carbon, we are keen to ensure that nature restoration projects will complement other land uses. That is why, for example, that our projects never displace crofters or farmers! Estates continue with farming activity which they might choose to refine to be more sustainable. This is an important consideration for reputational risk management as rising carbon prices incentivize the unscrupulous, such as those venture capitalists without a genuine interest, to purchase estates and to clear people from the land. The last thing we want is a repeat of the Highland Clearances of the 1800s!

We are passionate about achieving co-benefits for the local community in relation to water quality, flood mitigation, fire risk mitigation, drought mitigation, public access trails, educational opportunities, socio-economic impacts, physical wellbeing and mental wellbeing from the restorative affects of time in an inspirational landscape.

Simply put, Highland Carbon focuses on the supply of UK climate projects with exceptional credentials. This distinguishes us from some carbon brokers that have spun-off from the commodity trading and venture capital arenas, with the latter perhaps being more focused on margins than on quality outcomes.

Highland Carbon also curates impactful international projects with recognised verification and validation providers, such as the Gold Standard, Verified Carbon Standard and United Nations - Clean Development Mechanism.

Highland Carbon has won the award for the ‘Best UK Carbon Credit Supplier’ in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 – each year we have applied.

We are currently shortlisted for the 2025 award. We also won the 2024 award for 'Natural Landscape Restoration Expertise'.

We were lauded by the British Chambers of Commerce for our ‘inspirational approach to innovative green solutions’ during the lead up to the 2023 COP.

Highland Carbon won the 'Green Business Award with Doncaster Chamber in 2023, having been a finalist a few times. We are currently shortlisted for the '2025 Environmental Impact Award' with Sheffield Chamber of Commerce, and are finalists for the '2025 Green Business Award' with the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce..

In the context of Highland Carbon, Richard has been interviewed by various media outlets such as The BBC, Sky News, The Scotsman newspaper, Carbon Pulse magazine and Business Network magazine. He has delivered podcasts to the Global List in New York City, NQA Global Certification Body in Scotland, the De-Carbonisation Training Centre, Wester Ross Biosphere and the Aberdeen Science Museum.

Richard has given talks to various organisations and forums such as the UK Sustainability Summit, the UK Association of Sustainability Professionals, Hull Eco Fest, Yorkshire Sustainability Festival, Scottish Land & Estates - Annual Conference and a virtual seminar allied to the United Nations COP26 in Glasgow.

Richard was educated at Michigan State University in the United States. As an undergraduate, he read Zoology with emphasis upon forestry, ecology, conservation, wildlife management, marine biology, fisheries management and animal behavior. Richard's post graduate degree continued in Zoology within the discipline of Neuroscience. His research studied the affects of agricultural chemicals upon brain differentiation, development and behaviour.

Richard's work experience over 35 years includes:

Managing Director

Highland Carbon, Scotland, UK

Chief Executive

South Yorkshire Community Foundation, UK

Director of Development and Commercial Revenue

Bransby Horse Sanctuary, Lincoln, UK

Corporate Development Manager

The Woodland Trust, Nr London, UK

Regional Director of Development

Environmental Defense Fund, NYC, USA

Executive Director of Development, Communications and PR

North Carolina State University, USA

Assistant Director of Development

Michigan State University, USA

Assistant Director of Development

The Nature Conservancy, Washington DC, USA

Richard's voluntary experience includes:

Board Member, The Sleep Charity, UK
Board Member, Mind Wellbeing CIC, UK
Trustee, Tickhill Community Connections, UK
Board Member, Urban Options, USA
Sustainability Award Advisor, The King's Lord Lieutenancy, UK
Fundraising Advisor, Chester Zoo, UK
Volunteer, Doncaster Business for the Community, UK
Mentor, Fuel Change, Scotland, UK
Fundraising Advisor, Doncaster Arts (DARTs), UK
Co-Founder, Project Recycle, Michigan State University, USA
Co-Founder, Earth Day Festival, Michigan State University, USA