Calculating Conservation Credits

Our service to local authorities

Background

The Environment Bank, together with several local Wildlife Trusts, and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, are piloting the implementation of the use of Conservation Credits in the UK. Conservation Credits have been designed to capture the true cost of the use of land, and its associated biodiversity and ecosystem services. Our pilots are designed to inform the government’s biodiversity offsets scheme which promotes Conservation Credits as an effective strategy for mitigating the impacts of development on biodiversity and ecosystems. Environment Bank is establishing the infrastructure for registering and listing receptor sites that can receive credit spend to fund nature conservation. Credits purchased from Environment Bank will fund schemes designed to protect, maintain and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services through habitat creation, restoration and management at a landscape scale using a ‘Habitat Banking’ approach. The approach could be used to provide a range of spatial opportunities such as those identified in the ‘Making Space for Nature’ report, and deliver net gain for biodiversity.

We are also able to provide a service to local authorities; we can assess the credit requirements of development sites, irrespective of intended use (i.e. residential, commercial, infrastructure etc), and source receptor sites from our registration system that can deliver the credits.

Using a series of ‘metrics’ as relative measures of the biodiversity value of an area identified for development allows us to quantify the ecological impact of the proposed development and define the level of Conservation Credits required (i.e. offset) to achieve ‘no net loss’ of habitats, species and ecosystem services. The ‘habitat hectares’ model, which is a multiple attribute metric developed specifically for offsetting impacts at a range of spatial scales, allows credit requirement and type to be calculated. We evaluate the outcomes of these metrics against a range of standards which represent the average characteristics of a mature ecological community type in an ‘undisturbed’ condition. As part of the planning process, the developer would be required to purchase the Conservation Credits calculated. Purchased credits are then strategically matched with credit requirements of identified receptor sites, or consolidated with other Conservation Credits to deliver landscape-scale biodiversity initiatives, in the local area. Conservation Credits are complimentary to existing mitigation legislation and do not detract from or override it, and as such we believe that the use of Conservation Credits can be facilitated through the existing planning system using a conditions precedent and we can help structure the credit sales using such a condition.

Using habitat hectares

Habitat hectares metrics, as constructed and consulted on widely by Defra, can be applied to both development and receptor sites. A development site is mapped according to habitat types and the Conservation Credits worked out on a habitat basis. Habitats are pre-assigned to a tariff band (see Table 1) based on their value which includes their BAP designation, with parameters such as species richness, diversity and rarity (at local, regional and national scales), and role in supporting rare and/or BAP designated species. There are 4 tariff bands with associated credits. These Conservation Credits are the number of credits required to offset for the impact on that habitat.

Table 1. Tariff bands assigned to habitats and associated Conservation Credits.

Tariff Band	Habitat Value	Habitat Type	Local Authority Response to development	Offset Type	Credits (per ha)
Very High	High	BAP with ’no loss’ target	Strong assumption against	Within type	Bespoke calculation/ >24
High	High	Rest of BAP habitats	Assumption against	Within type	24
Medium	Medium	Semi-natural non BAP	Generally permitted	Within type of trade up	16
Low	Low	Intensive agricultural	Permitted	Trade up	8

There may be additional national or local criteria for BAP species for which habitat is a poor surrogate measure. Additional considerations have to be factored in e.g. hedgerows, which cannot be treated as other habitats yet provide significant contributions to biodiversity richness.

Multipliers

To finalise the Conservation Credits calculation and ensure no net loss of biodiversity offset provision, the application of a multiplier may be necessary to factor in risk and uncertainty due to spatial, temporal or delivery issues. Multipliers are calculated to reflect the risks associated with restoration or recreation (expansion) of habitats. For example, based on the likelihood of success of recreation projects for habitats (Table 2), corresponding multipliers have been established to help deliver a suitable level of confidence in successful offset provision. Multipliers are also in place for spatial risk and temporal delivery and the time lags associated with different habitat maturation rates of the offset.

Table 2. Categories of risk associated with habitat restoration and corresponding compensatory multipliers.

	Risk	Multiplier
Low	<0.1	1
Medium	0.1-0.25	1.5
High	0.25-0.5	3
Very high	>0.5	10

Further information – a service to local authorities

The Environment Bank was set up to facilitate the delivery of mitigation and compensation schemes associated with planned development via ‘Habitat Banking’, a concept developed in the US as a means of achieving ‘no net loss’ of habitats and species. By implementing strategic approaches we enable landscapes of substantial ecological worth to be created, managed and maintained within a long-term framework. It is the first company of its kind in the UK, and aims to take the concept one step further, to deliver gains for both biodiversity and people.

Please contact us if you would like to find out more or discuss how we can work with you to calculate Conservation Credit requirements and identify receptor sites in relation to specific developments or plans.

Please use our contact form here or email admin@environmentbank.com.