Wheathampstead Habitat Bank

County: Hertfordshire
Local planning authority (LPA): St Albans City and District Council
National Character Area (NCA): Chilterns

Birds-eye render of Wheathampstead Habitat Bank before restoration

Very high distinctiveness habitats

Lowland meadows
Species-rich native hedgerow with trees — associated with bank or ditch

High distinctiveness habitats

Species-rich native hedgerow with trees

Medium distinctiveness habitats

Other neutral grassland
Other woodland; broadleaved
Species-rich native hedgerow

Low distinctiveness habitats

Native hedgerow

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Habitat Bank overview

Nestled in the Chiltern Hills is Wheathampstead Habitat Bank – a 110-acre parcel of land that is restoring crucial habitats in Hertfordshire.

This site is largely made up of arable grassland with low biodiversity – which is why it is such an effective site for nature recovery. We are hoping that our enhancement of the land enables native wildlife, such as white-letter hairstreak butterfly, to thrive in the years to come.

BNG delivery

At each of our Habitat Banks, our team assesses the land at the very start to maximise our biodiversity uplift. During this process we look at the site’s existing wildlife and vegetation, geological features, hydrology, extended management history, and its wider connectivity in the region.

Then, using the statutory biodiversity metric, we take a baseline for each Habitat Bank. Our team carefully considers the land and decides on the best possible habitats that will deliver and demonstrate resilient and adaptable biodiversity gains over our thirty-year management period.

Neighbouring LPAs
Central Bedfordshire Council
Dacorum Borough Council
Hertsmere Borough Council
Watford Borough Council
Three Rivers District Council
North Hertfordshire District Council
Welwyn Hatfield Council

Neighbouring NCAs
Northern Thames Basin
Thames Basin Heaths
South Suffolk and North Essex Clayland
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands
Thames Valley
Upper Thames Clay Vales
Berkshire and Marlborough Downs
East Anglian Chalk

Our vision

Wheathampstead Habitat Bank is a particularly unique and exciting site as it is partially made up by the Devil’s Dyke Local Wildlife Site (LWS). The Devil’s Dyke is the remains of defensive ditches from the Iron Age – stretching to around thirty metres wide and twelve metres deep.

We’re enhancing the woodland at Wheathampstead Habitat Bank by removing harmful non-native turkey oak and conifer species and instead encouraging the growth of native plants. The removal of invasive species will not only benefit local ecosystems and allow the growth of English oak trees, but it will also create valuable deadwood features – made up of dead and decaying wood – that provide valuable habitats for fungi and insects.