As Biodiversity net-gain is rolled out gradually across the country and with the upcoming national mandate set to be introduced with the Environment Bill in 2020/2021, Environment Bank are getting an increase in enquiries for offsetting sites in new local authority areas every week. With a key principle of offsetting being that offset sites should be located in close proximity to the development which they are…
The Environment Bank are pleased to announce we are providing support to the Woodmeadow Trust. The Woodmeadow trust is a pioneering charity that is looking to address the catastrophic declines in biodiversity in the UK by creating 'woodmeadows'. These habitats provide great opportunities for wildlife with species-rich grassland transitioning into broadleaved woodland. Structural diversity with sympathetic management that is a true net gain for biodiversity. The…
Our Chairman David Hill was recently interviewed for a piece in Transform Magazine, a publication from the Institute for Environmental Management (IEMA). The piece titled "widen the net" covered the application of biodiversity net gain and the implications for people working within the sustainability sector. David once again highlighted that offsetting if applied in the right way is not a 'license to trash' and that on-site…
A recent blog article published on the US-based website Ecosystem Marketplace discussed how Environment Bank is pioneering the use of techniques from the USA in the UK. The article provides an excellent summary of the Environment Bank's history since 2009 and highlights some of the key ongoing challenges faced in implementing offsetting and mitigation banking in the UK. The full article is well worth a read…
An article about biodiversity net gain was featured in the July edition of the Countryside and Land Association magazine 'Land and Business'. This piece included an interview with Environment Bank Chairman David Hill. The article brought the concept to a vast number of landowners, many of whom were unaware of the possibilities the schemes could bring to them in terms of creating another income stream for…
Yesterday the government announced it was launching a Green Finance Strategy with the aim to increase investment in sustainable projects and infrastructure. This was accompanied by the statement that there would be an expectation for limited companies to disclose how climate change impacts their work. The government will explore the best way to do this and are yet to decide whether a mandatory disclosure of impacts…
Below follows a brief summary of the article, if you would like to read the full piece click here. The latest issue of The Chartered Institue of Ecology and Environmental Management's (CIEEM's) InPractice (June 2019) focussed on the subject of biodiversity net gain. A number of articles were included in the issue from a wide range of consultants and covered various issues around net gain. Environment…
With biodiversity net gain soon to become a mandatory requirement for all new developments, now is the time to start carrying out calculations to ensure your site is achieving this. Our calculator uses the approved Defra metric allowing you to manually enter habitats, distinctiveness and condition giving you an overall value in biodiversity units for the existing and the proposed site. If you would like a…
With biodiversity net gain being mandated there will need to be an effective market established for biodiversity offset sites (habitat banks) that can satisfy the demand for conservation credits from ongoing and future development. It is welcome to, therefore, see a paper published in the Journal of Applied Ecology (Needham et al in press) that has reviewed how the market for tradable pollution permits operates and…
The Environment Bank was established by David Hill in 2006 to lobby for a better way of delivering mitigation and compensation for development impacts on biodiversity. We have been promoting mitigation banking/habitat banking, biodiversity offsetting and gains to biodiversity through development for the past 12 years. We are proud that our work has now paid off and we can enjoy much greater and more effective…