Where we work
Our Portfolio
At NARA, our work takes us to different regions of the world, both dryland and coastal geographies. We plan to scale to Australia and North America soon. If you are interested in partnering in other regions of the world, please reach out.
Spain
Andalusia
NARA has been working in Andalusia, Spain for years, supporting farmers, landowners, and the government in designing and implementing saltmarsh agriculture projects.
Our work
The NARA Spain project involves the rewetting of large areas of former saltmarsh dykelands. Large infrastructure works are near completion on the project sites, including canals, dykes, and lagoons built to facilitate the inflows of water to the areas. The project supports local wildlife, especially migratory birds like flamingoes and endangered water fowls.
The region
The current projects being developed in Andalusia, Spain are within a single estuary in which more than 70% of saltmarshes were destroyed to make room for modern agriculture. This extent of loss is indicative of European, American, and Australian estuaries where millions of hectares have been converted and lost in the same fashion.
Moving earth
This project is infrastructure-heavy. While we try to avoid large-scale infrastructure works, in favour of natural agro-ecologies, this project does involve physically moving a lot of earth to build the shape of our new wetland ecosystem. A lot of this work is to un-do the damage that was done when the saltmarshes were drained and dyked many years ago.
The semi-extensive approach
This first phase will establish around 1.500 hectares of saltmarsh agro-ecologies with carbon sequestration. This project uses a 'semi-extensive' approach which combines elements of natural restoration with managed irrigation (agriculture) to optimise the growth/health of the farmed ecosystem. This is done through a variety of water controls that allow us to control how much water at any point enters the system. Often this is a careful balance between optimising plant growth and carbon sequestration. Finding this balance is where the magic happens.
Livestock
The projects in Spain are growing feed for livestock, while also hosting hundreds of cattle on site that graze the saltmarsh freely, benefitting from the bio-active compounds in these plants that dramatically improve animal health and the meat and dairy products. The livestock manure helps fertilise the land prior to re-wetting.
Wetlands of Andalusia
Our team is also interested in historic 'esteros' of the Mediterranean, old saltworks and aquaculture ponds built as far back as 3,000 years ago. Today, they are largely abandoned but are perfect examples of ancient 'agro-ecologies', combining agriculture with ecosystems. In the current green transition, these areas numbering in the millions of hectares can be transitioned to regenerative production and provide feedstocks for industry ingredients.
Who We Are - NARA
Our Vision
At NARA, we envision a world where the environment is protected and preserved for future generations. We aim to create a sustainable future for all by promoting eco-friendly practises.
Incentivising restoration
Large-scale restoration works are expensive. Often times, carbon credits alone cannot cover the costs involved. This is why our approach relies on the productivity of the agricultural activities as the main economic driver of restoration. The projects in Andalusia involve a multi-sectoral group of stakeholders from government to international organisations that contribute to the design and funding of the projects. The first phase of the project is funded by the European Union and partner organisations.
Bespoke design
Every site requires a unique lens with which to design the project based on environmental, economic, and operational conditions. Even between the two main project sites in Andalusia, there are major differences in design and level of infrastructure.
United Kingdom
Saltmarshes
Across the United Kingdom there are over 100,000 hectares of saltmarshes which serve important ecological functions in hosting immense biodiversity while protecting coasts from storms and flooding. These ecosystems also produce more biomass than any ecosystem or farm! Yearly (natural) biomass is well over 30 tonnes per hectare, and can be sustainably harvested to power the green transition.
Our work
Across Scotland, Wales and England, hundreds of thousands of hectares of dykelands have been built over the last 500 years, reclaiming land from the sea for grain and livestock production.
Today, these dykelands are under threat from rising seas, flooding, and policies aimed at restoring these to their former saltmarsh ecosystems. NARA incentivises restoration for coastal farmers by offering a combined approach where commercial agricultural production can be undertaken in the form of saltmarsh feedstock production while allowing for gradual restoration.
Since 2018, NARA has worked with farmers across Scotland and England to build integrated saltmarsh farms.
Our projects
Since 2018 NARA has worked with farmers across croftland, dykelands, and arable land to build saltmarsh farms. We have converted degraded barely fields into saltmarshes, restored dykelands, and even built urban saltmarshes that support biodiversity.
Saltmarsh agriculture
A history
For centuries coastal communities in Europe and the commonwealth have used saltmarshes for agriculture. Especially in the UK, saltmarshes were used for grazing livestock, harvesting halophytes for ‘famine food’, and even taking biomass for building materials.
Today, saltmarsh crops are seen as gourmet superfoods, with proven nutritional properties. Saltmarsh lamb, for example, is considered a delicacy and fetches high prices at market.
Our Approach
NARA helps coastal farmers with saltmarsh land unlock the economic and environmental potential of this abundant and underutilised feedstock.
Across Scotland, NARA is supporting farmers in sustainably harvesting saltmarsh biomass for a range of applications in decarbonising livestock production, and creating value-add products like cosmetic and nutraceutical products.
Drylands
Our Mission
Hundreds of millions of hectares of drylands are salt affected or sit on top of vast saltwater deposits. This ‘unproductive’ land be unlocked to expand arable land globally while storing millions of tonnes of carbon in the process. Using little more than sand and saltwater, rich agricultural land can be created in hostile environments like deserts to combat food insecurity, climate pressures, and the lack of available green feedstocks.
Our Partners
NARA has worked with dryland farmers for many years across Africa and Asia, helping communities turn degraded drylands into carbon farms that produce high-value biomass for food, feed, and extractives.
Namibia
Our Mission
NARA has worked with livestock producers in the Kalahari desert since 2020, using the SALT approach to turn desert into saltmarsh farms by pumping saline groundwater for irrigation to feed drought-threatened livestock. During the 2020 droughts, Namibia lost millions of livestock in a single year, highlighting the need for climate-proof feed sources.
Turning the desert green
NARA has successfully introduced salt-tolerant crops to extremely dry regions of Namibia that suffer from salinisation. While these farmers and communities have access to a tremendous resource of saline groundwater, they have not been able to capitalise on this resource. By unlocking this groundwater, large areas of land can be transformed into agro-ecologies for feed production.
Namibia is a livestock-rich country, but suffers from chronic droughts that kill millions of livestock annually. By creating climate-resilient feed production systems locally, we can climate-proof the livestock sector.
Natural assets
Namibia's coast boast many saltmarshes, from which native salt-tolerant crops have been identified and used on farming projects. Localising crops is a key objective to NARA, and we are proud to use native species in local contexts.
As Namibia transitions to regenerative feed ingredients, these natural assets will become more and more important, as they will support the decarbonisation of industry locally.
Kenya
Our work
NARA has worked in Northern Kenya since 2021 with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, supporting the World Food Programme in scaling regenerative desert agriculture. We focus on building climate-resilience for the millions of pastoralists who rely on the availability of feed for their livestock to survive. The climate-induced chronic droughts threaten their way of life. By creating localised, salt-tolerant feed production systems we can protect the livestock sector while providing jobs and capturing carbon in these saltmarsh farms.
In 2023 NARA completed pilot projects across Kenya’s Turkana region, successfully cultivating crops using saltwater in the desert. In 2024, NARA will scale up its operations in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and local communities.
Through this work, numerous saltmarsh farms will be set-up to produce drought-resilient livestock feed for pastoralists while capturing soil carbon and providing livelihoods for the communities of Turkana.
Our partners
Together with the Ministry of agriculture and livestock, United Nations, and local NGOs, we have been supporting local communities in Northern Kenya by building relationships and development programmes.
These partnerships are key in introducing these solutions and building capacity for larger scale-up over the coming years.
Our region
Starting in the Lake Turkana region, we are building farms along the largest desert lake in the world, which is salty. Both groundwater and lakewater in this region is saline. This desert region is blessed with huge deposits of this salt-water, which can be unlocked for large-scale commercial agriculture in combination with wetland creation.
As a region with immense natural beauty, available land, and water, Turkana has the potential of being a breadbasket for East Africa.
Ghana: Mangroves
Our Mission
Since 2020, NARA’s sister company, Seawater Solutions, has been restoring mangrove forests and undertaking blue economy projects in Ghana, supporting coastal communities at the frontlines of climate change create circular food systems.
The Ghana Mangrove Project is a carbon-food security initiative run in partnership with Terraformation and the Ghana Forestry Commission, involving thousands of hectares of mangrove restoration, regenerative aquaculture, and saline agriculture.
Mangrove restoration
One of the main activities in Ghana is the restoration of thousands of hectares of mangrove forests, crucial in climate defense and the protection of fisheries. Working with local communities, we are building integrated agro-ecologies that create blue economy activities such as aquaculture and agro-forestry.
Saline agriculture
In tandem with the mangrove activities, we engage in saline agriculture on areas not eligible for mangrove restoration. By bringing this land into productivity, we can provide added livelihood opportunities for communities living in areas of high salinisation.