One of the world’s most iconic car manufacturers partnered with one of Britain’s most prominent nature custodians to make low emission travel to treasured green spaces easier. We map out the details.
Collaboration is essential when tackling complex global challenges – especially the climate crisis and the urgent need to protect nature. When organisations join forces, they combine their strengths, insights, and resources to drive meaningful progress that wouldn’t be possible alone.
One vehicle that can offer effective action is corporate sustainability partnerships. These alliances between private companies and public or non-profit organisations can help deliver practical, scalable responses to environmental challenges.
When thoughtfully structured and authentic to the brands and its audiences, these collaborations can move far beyond basic service delivery. They can actively contribute to long-term environmental goals, build trust within local communities, and enhance a brand’s relevance in people’s lives.
Many are supported through marketing budgets, meaning they must deliver on two fronts: generating tangible benefits for nature, the environment, or communities, while also reinforcing brand value. Managing this kind of dual impact isn’t easy. It requires careful alignment between the right partners, built on trust, mutual understanding, and a shared commitment to a common goal. But when it works, the results can be impactful for both sides.
Take, for example, our three-year Recharge in Nature partnership with National Parks UK. This collaboration exemplifies the power of corporate sustainability partnerships to deliver real-world benefits. Beyond providing essential funding to our National Parks, the partnership has also contributed to addressing the longstanding challenge of rural EV charging infrastructure, a key barrier in the UK’s transition to low-emission travel.
With more than 90 million annual visits to the UK’s National Parks – 93% of which are made by car – but limited infrastructure to support low-emission transport, the homes of some our most iconic landscapes need support to promote more sustainable travel. Recharge in Nature has enabled BMW to install EV chargers across all 15 UK National Parks, making it easier for visitors to make low-emission journeys and helping to close the gap in rural access to charging for those who live and work in these remote areas.
At BMW, we understand that addressing this challenge is essential not only to achieving our own EV and decarbonisation goals, but also to ensuring that people across the UK feel confident making the switch to electric mobility.
But the impact doesn’t stop at infrastructure. The partnership also funds nature restoration and community wellbeing projects in every National Park. These initiatives are not prescribed from the top down; they are selected and led by local National Park teams, ensuring they reflect regional priorities and harness local knowledge.
BMW’s role has been to support, listen, and learn from those on the ground who best understand the needs of their communities. The results have been deeply rooted in what those communities wanted to see. In Loch Lomond, biodiversity is being improved. In Dartmoor, access to green spaces is being enhanced.
In the South Downs alone, we’ve overseen the restoration of 10 dew ponds across key sites such as Nepcote Green, Chantry Hill, Gallops Wood, and The Rails. These ponds are critical for local biodiversity, providing water sources and habitats for a range of species, including dragonflies, amphibians, and invertebrates.
Restored ponds are also helping support the endangered white turtle dove, a red-listed species recently recorded in the area, and amphibians like toads and frogs have already begun producing spawn. With bats and ducks also being observed in the vicinity, we’re seeing more and more indicators of a thriving habitat returning to balance.
Crucially, many of these ponds sit along public access routes like the South Downs Way or in community greens like Nepcote Green, creating both ecological and public engagement benefits. These restored landscapes not only bring nature back but offer accessible places for people to reconnect with it.
Ultimately, corporate sustainability partnerships should serve more than one purpose. The Recharge in Nature initiative is a testament to what’s possible when business needs align with societal and environmental priorities. We’ve been fortunate to work alongside the UK National Parks Partnerships team, whose insight and commitment ensure that our investment creates real, lasting impact.
Sustainability challenges will not be solved in silos. But when businesses collaborate with purpose, listen to communities, and invest in solutions that serve people and planet alike, we can power meaningful progress, together.
Emily Barrow is BMW Brand Communications Manager
Image: Ian Cylkowski / Unsplash
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