Highlands Rewilding announced it raised the necessary funds needed to purchase Tayvallich Estate in Argyll.

Speaking to a Wildlife Estates Scotland assembly in Balmoral earlier this week, Highlands Rewilding founder and chief executive Dr Jeremy Leggett said that barring "acts of god", the sale will go ahead and reach closure at the end of March.

Tayvallich Estate includes several small islands in the Sound of Jura.

Both the estate and peninsula also include three Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) and five different Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

The sale also includes a number of properties, including farmhouses, cottages, a derelict former blacksmith's forge and log store, and an old school.

Highlands Rewilding is planning to restore the estate's natural environment.

It was said previously that there would be a "wonderful opportunity" to extend the temperate rainforest and "sequester carbon offshore in kelp and seagrass".

Dr Leggett, a former Greenpeace director, said: "The team is looking forward to the many aspects of work we will be able to do on Tayvallich.

"The rich tapestry of habitats onshore and offshore will provide fertile ground for our data acquisition and processing, and natural-capital verification science.

"The many activities we will be able to pursue with the local community will give us the chance to create an exemplar of community-company synergy and enshrine public integrity principles with ethical private interests."

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Highlands Rewilding already owns two Scottish estates, Bunloit in Inverness-shire and Beldorney in Aberdeenshire.

People long for 'climate meltdown turnaround'

Dr Leggett added: "We embarked on our campaign with trepidation, well aware of the cost-of-living crisis but it has gone better than we dared hope.

"I think the results we have seen gives a feel for how people long to see biodiversity collapse and climate meltdown turned around.

"At Highlands Rewilding, we dream of playing a lead role in the great diversion of investment from ruin to restoration. It's a dream we're slowly making a reality as we approach three years in business.

"Our hard work and plight to restore our nation's biodiversity uplift is just beginning."