24/03/2026
We were very happy to recently host The Thousand Year Trust - the UK winner of the inaugural Defender Awards.
As the UK’s only charity dedicated to restoring rare ecosystems, known as Atlantic temperate rainforests shaped by the mild wet climate brought by the Atlantic Ocean, The Thousand Year Trust is one of only six global winners to secure a tough and capable Defender 4x4 and a £100,000 bursary to support its restoration missions across the country.
The Thousand Year Trust’s ‘Cornwall Rainforest Project’ will restore 10,000‑acres of Bodmin Moor, an area rich in biodiversity which includes ancient moss draped trees, carpets of ferns and rare and rich wildlife that inhabit the woodlands. By planting 1.28 million native trees and capturing 220,000 tonnes of harmful CO2e from the atmosphere, the project aims to slow climate change and restore a healthier, more resilient landscape.
The Defender will provide invaluable support acting as a mobile base for surveys, transport to remote locations and locally for schools' engagement, and ensuring the charity can take its empowering work to any terrain where it is needed.
Merlin Hanbury-Tenison, Managing Director of the Thousand Year Trust said: “It's been incredible to win the inaugural Defender Award. We've been given this incredible Defender 110 which is the most beautiful vehicle and it's going to be our workhouse as a charity. It’s going to be an opportunity for us to meet with landowners and farmers to help learn how to restore the temperate rainforest on their land and make sure that Britain's rainforests are on everyone's lips.”
