Estate partnership for BNG: Cornwell Habitat Bank | The biodiversity experts

Oxfordshire

The Cornwell Estate – a one thousand seven-hundred-acre farm, manor house, and wedding venue in West Oxfordshire – has been home to Alex Ward and his family for over sixty years.

Having managed the estate for two decades, Alex saw Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) as a great opportunity to boost nature across the landscape while incorporating sustainable farming and unlocking a new income stream for the estate.

In 2022, Environment Bank began a partnership with Cornwell Estate to launch an eighty-acre BNG Habitat Bank – complementing other environmental projects already underway there and providing the estate with a reliable, long-term source of diversified land income.

Since going live, Cornwell Habitat Bank has joined Natural England’s biodiversity gain sites register and it has Biodiversity Units ready for developers to purchase from Environment Bank.

What made you consider a BNG Habitat Bank for your land?

“All my family have a keen interest in nature. We’ve been part of several environmental projects at Cornwell over the years, from tree planting to wetland creation, and we’re always looking for new ways to improve the biodiversity of the land.

Alongside this, we’re also looking for ways to generate long term income for the estate. So, when we considered the best options for this parcel, BNG was a logical choice because we’d get far better margins than through traditional farming.

The parcel we chose sits beside an area of established wetland restoration where a Habitat Bank would really allow us to extend the environmental work we were already doing on the farm.

Also, a lot of the estate is traditionally farmed alongside a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme, so BNG appealed to us because it could integrate with our sustainable approach to farming and support the wider estate enterprise. BNG gave us a way to do it all – support nature, farm the land sustainably, and diversify the estate’s income.”

A ringed plover, a small bird with brown and white feathers, yellow beak, and black stripes — Ringed plover, a bird species found at Cornwell Habitat Bank

Why did you choose to partner with Environment Bank?

“While we perhaps could have done BNG ourselves, Environment Bank had the expertise to deliver BNG and make things as simple as possible for landowners.

The team at Environment Bank have worked with us throughout the whole process and we’ve really appreciated their support.

They create and monitor the habitats, they handle the lease and management agreements, and they sell the Biodiversity Units to developers – so we can really focus on managing the land without having to worry about everything else related to BNG.”

Render of Cornwell Habitat Bank with habitats restored, showing biodiverse pond within a thriving wildflower glassland being grazed by a small herd of native cattle surrounded by hedgerow — Our vision for Cornwell Habitat Bank

How have you found the early process of setting up a BNG Habitat Bank?

“Environment Bank has a great team so the whole process was smooth. Less than a year after we first enquired, the lease agreement was signed, the Habitat Bank went live, and work began.

Since then, the habitat creation team have done some incredible work. They’ve spread a locally sourced, brush-harvested seed mix to convert the existing arable fields and enhance existing pasture into a wildflower-rich grassland. They’ve also planted scrub, installed fencing, planted hedgerows, and dug ponds and scrapes which are starting to fill.

The initial habitat creation works are now finished, and we’ve got a clear plan in place to manage the Habitat Bank for the next three decades. Environment Bank’s ecologists are keeping an eye on the habitats to make sure this plan changes and adapts whenever needed to ensure the habitats succeed.

With the Habitat Bank now set up, Environment Bank have put evergreen bond in place to cover the next thirty years of habitat management fees in advance which means that our income is guaranteed for three decades!”

A Eurasian otter amongst mossy rocks with a stream flowing — Eurasian otter, a mammal species found at Cornwell Habitat Bank

How is your land expected to change over the coming years?

“The scrub that’s been planted beside the woodland and grassland is going to make a natural transitional zone between the two habitats, so it’ll be easier for wildlife to move around.

The grassland is being maintained with low intensity livestock grazing and we’re allowing the ponds and scrapes to vegetate naturally. This sort of sensitive management will encourage microhabitats to form, which provide a great home for wide spectrum of wildlife.

Over time, the habitats are going to fully establish and mature. We’ll see them become even more diverse and rich in different species, particularly birds and insects – and I can’t wait to see their populations grow.

I’m really interested in ornithology and the estate is already home to bird species like kingfisher, lapwing, heron, egret, green sandpiper, ringed plover, ruff, and osprey. We’ve also got two other wetland areas, lakes, several spring-fed streams, and woodland where we see a variety of fauna including, otters, water vole, geese, and a family of swans – so Cornwell Habitat Bank is helping to support all this wildlife.”

Birds-eye render of Cornwell Habitat Bank with habitats restored, including new meadows, ponds, grazing marsh, scrub, grassland, and native hedgerow — Our birds-eye vision for the 80-acre Cornwell Habitat Bank

How will these changes benefit your land and farming business?

“The Habitat Bank has financially diversified the income of Cornwell Estate and continues to support our farming business and enhance the land.

We have a grazier with a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle and an in-hand sheep enterprise. Both benefit from the grazing opportunity the Habitat Bank has given us.

With more wetland areas introduced surrounding Swail Brook, Cornwell Habitat Bank is also going to improve natural flood management from the River Evenlode by reducing surface runoff. This will support the work we did with the Evenlode Catchment Partnership (ECP) to improve the water quality of Chipping Norton Brook which gets polluted by the local sewage treatment works when the water flow is high.

We’re already seeing an increasing number of pollinators – like native birds, bees, and butterflies – across the Habitat Bank, which is great for all the plant life and for our farm.”

A kingfisher with bright blue feathers catching a fish just on the surface of a pond — Kingfisher, a bird species found at Cornwell Habitat Bank

What advice would you give to others considering BNG?

“BNG is a great option for marginal land because it offers a long-term supplemental income and improves the land by increasing its biodiversity, which is good for nature and agriculture.

I would encourage estates managers to really consider BNG and I’d recommend reaching out to the team at Environment Bank because they’re incredibly helpful.

Going into BNG with a partner like Environment Bank has made things straightforward for us, and we’re already seeing the land and its wildlife really benefit.”

Alex, landowner and estate manager at Cornwell Habitat Bank, a man in his sixties with grey hair and glasses wearing a grey wool jumper stood next to stables, petting a brown horse — Alex at the Cornwell Estate

Find out more about our BNG Habitat Banks