Biodiversity net gain on the Ridgeway: two years on

Calcareous Grassland Creation on the Ridgeway

In 2022, the Hendred Estate decided to enhance biodiversity on their land and entered a voluntary Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) agreement. Their mission? Transforming five hectares of unproductive arable land along the historic Ridgeway into thriving calcareous grassland and establishing one hectare of native broadleaved woodland.

Fast forward to 2024, and the team at Ecoconsult Ltd revisited the site to assess progress. Here’s what they uncovered:

🌼 Flora Flourishing

• 68% of the seeded plant species have now emerged in the sward, up from 61% in 2023.

• 10 key lowland calcareous grassland species have successfully taken root, including kidney vetch, lady’s bedstraw, and oxeye daisy.

🐇 Fauna Challenges

While the grassland flourished, the native woodland faced a setback. Local hares took a liking to the planted saplings, damaging nearly half of them. The saplings have now been replaced and protected with tree guards.

Key Lessons Learned

1. ⏳ Patience pays off: Calcareous grasslands don’t transform overnight. Some species can take years to fully establish, requiring long-term commitment and monitoring.

2. 🛠️ Prepare for the unexpected: Whether it’s voracious hares or other surprises, having a contingency plan is vital.

3. 💚 The reward is real

This project proves the power of collaboration and careful planning in delivering meaningful, long-term biodiversity gains. 🌍

Why It Matters

Projects like this highlight the potential of Biodiversity Net Gain initiatives to create meaningful, long-term environmental benefits.

Are you inspired to explore similar projects on your land? Let’s work together to create spaces where nature can thrive!

2024: A busy year at TOE

Biodiversity Net Gain and the Local Environment Fund

🌼 2024 has been a busy year at TOE for protecting important sites for nature, creating biodiverse habitats, and connecting people to their natural environments.

🙏 We want to thank all the volunteers, landowners, and organisations we have partnered with over this year who have helped us support nature recovery across Oxfordshire. We couldn't do it without you!

Bring on 2025.

Biodiversity credits or biodiversity units. What's the difference and why does it matter?

Understanding the difference between biodiversity units and biodiversity credits under the new biodiversity net gain legislation

The concept of biodiversity net gain (BNG) has gained significant traction with the implementation of new UK legislation requiring developments to achieve a 10% increase in biodiversity compared to pre-development levels. Central to this system are biodiversity units and biodiversity credits, terms often used interchangeably but representing distinct components of the BNG framework. Here, we unpack their meanings and roles in delivering meaningful ecological improvements.

What Are Biodiversity Units?

Biodiversity units are the primary currency for measuring changes in biodiversity value on a given site. They quantify the ecological worth of habitats based on their condition, area, and distinctiveness, as well as strategic significance. This measurement is achieved through the Biodiversity Metric, developed by Natural England, which standardises the calculation process.

Key features of biodiversity units:

1. Site-specific: Biodiversity units are tied to a specific piece of land. They represent the net change in biodiversity as a result of habitat loss, creation, or enhancement on that site.

2. Calculated using the Metric: The Biodiversity Metric assesses factors such as habitat type, condition, and location to assign a unit score to a development site.

3. On-site or off-site: Units can be generated or offset on-site (within the development boundary) or off-site (on other landholdings), depending on the nature of the project.

What Are Biodiversity Credits?

Biodiversity credits, on the other hand, are a financial mechanism designed to help developers meet their biodiversity net gain obligations when they cannot achieve the required uplift through on-site or off-site measures. Essentially, they offer a last-resort option, enabling developers to invest in strategic biodiversity projects elsewhere.

Key features of biodiversity credits:

1. Monetary transactions: Unlike biodiversity units, credits represent a monetary contribution toward biodiversity improvement projects, often managed by the government or accredited organisations.

2. Fall-back option: Credits are intended to be used only when all reasonable on-site and off-site measures have been exhausted.

3. Centralised delivery: Funds from credits are typically allocated to large-scale conservation projects, ensuring biodiversity gains at a broader, landscape level.

4. Standardised pricing: Credit prices are set by government authorities to ensure transparency and fairness.

The Relationship Between Units and Credits

While biodiversity units focus on quantifiable ecological changes, biodiversity credits act as a supplementary tool to address gaps in delivery. The relationship between the two ensures flexibility within the BNG framework while maintaining the overarching goal of biodiversity enhancement. Developers must prioritise achieving net gain through biodiversity units before resorting to credits, aligning with the hierarchy of avoid, mitigate, and compensate.

Implications for Landowners and Developers

For landowners, biodiversity units present an opportunity to generate income by creating and managing habitats that generate units for sale to developers. This supports landscape-scale conservation and fosters partnerships between stakeholders.

For developers, the introduction of biodiversity credits underscores the importance of early ecological planning to minimise reliance on credits and reduce project costs. Integrating BNG considerations from the outset can streamline compliance and deliver more sustainable outcomes.

TOE has a strong portfolio of biodiversity units across the county providing local options for developers to meet their BNG requirements.

Biodiversity Net Gain: A Landmark Year

A landmark year for biodiversity net gain

2024 has been a transformative year for biodiversity in the UK and a particularly proud moment for TOE’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) team. With the introduction of legislation in February requiring most developments to deliver a minimum 10% net gain in biodiversity compared to pre-development levels, the UK has taken a significant step toward reversing biodiversity decline.

While the mechanism isn’t perfect, it’s an improvement on past practices, and we should celebrate being the first nation to make such measures mandatory. This achievement is thanks to the tireless efforts of individuals and organisations who have worked over the past decade to bring this policy to life.

How BNG works

The new legislation requires developers to assess the biodiversity of a site before any work begins. Ecologists use a standardised metric developed by Natural England, which accounts for factors like habitat type, size, condition, and local significance to calculate biodiversity units.

Once a baseline is established, post-development plans are assessed to ensure they meet the 10% net gain requirement. If not, developers can either adapt their plans or purchase off-site biodiversity units from providers registered on the Biodiversity Gains Sites register.

At TOE, we’re proud to have supported two landowners in joining this register, representing 8.7% of the national supply! With the two other local sites managed by our partners at @BBOWT, you can trust that offsite BNG is being delivered with integrity in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire by local conservation charities.

The location of sites on the Biodiversity Gains Sites register on the 5th of December 2024

Insights from BNG implementation

Adjusting to Change

The introduction of BNG represents a major shift in the planning system. While some teething issues—like limited BNG expertise and resource challenges in Local Planning Authorities (LPAs)—are expected, we’ve found developers to be proactive and positive about the changes.

Governance, Accountability, and Local Ownership

Finding the right balance of regulation is key if we are to avoid a ‘race to the bottom’. Local Authorities have the responsibility to protect nature (and to support its recovery), and need to be empowered to oversee delivery in all areas of the BNG market (including Responsible Bodies).

Rising Demand for Ecologists

The demand for qualified ecologists has surged. Securing assessments can take months, highlighting the need for more skilled professionals to support effective BNG implementation.

Monitoring for Success

One strength of BNG is its focus on long-term monitoring. Off-site BNG sites, for example, often budget for at least ten visits by ecologists over a 30-year agreement, ensuring meaningful outcomes for biodiversity.

On-Site vs. Off-Site Solutions

Our experience suggests larger developments are achieving their 10% net gain on-site, while smaller projects often rely on off-site units. Ensuring fair access to off-site solutions and maintaining the integrity of on-site measures will be crucial as the policy matures.

Addressing Regional Disparities

Many regions face delays due to limited local authority resources, potentially driving landowners to alternative routes outside LPA control.

The rise of the (currently 17) Responsible Bodies, which can enter conservation covenants with landowners, offers a flexible, scalable option. To succeed, these organisations must collaborate with local authorities and experts who understand regional developmental and ecological challenges.

Looking Ahead

BNG is pushing biodiversity and nature recovery into the spotlight, from planning meetings to national policy discussions. While there’s still much to refine, the potential for tangible, long-lasting benefits is immense.

TOE is excited to be part of this evolving journey, helping shape a future where development and biodiversity work hand in hand. 🌿

Managing Kennington's verges for wildlife

Community group, Wild about Kennington, are passionate about improving their environment for the local residents whether they are human, mammal, insect or amphibian.

In summer 2025 new wildflower patches will enhance the area visually and be buzzing with wildlife . The wildflower seeds being sown have been carefully selected for their wildlife value for our native birds and bees. When in flower they will be a huge source of pollen and dense enough to provide sheltered wildlife corridors for mammals travelling through the village.

This project is a fantastic example of a successful Local Environment Fund grant application addressing nature recovery with the help of volunteers from the community.

The grant has been provided through our TOE Local Environment Fund, supported by contributions from Grundon Waste Management Ltd through the Landfill Communities Fund.

New amphibian habitat at Wolvercote Lakes

We love funding projects that create new habitats for wildlife.

Supported by a grant from TOE with funding from Grundon Waste Management Ltd through the Landfill Communities Fund a new shallow wildlife pond designed as a habitat for amphibians and other species who do well in waters without fish has been created at Wolvercote Lakes thanks to the hard work of volunteers and the Oxford Preservation Trust.

Filled with rainwater runoff, the local fauna soon moved into this ideal new home. Each spring amphibians will breed and it will be buzzing with insect life like damselflies and dragonflies in summer.

Wolvercote Lakes is managed by the Oxford Preservation Trust.

Biodiversity Net Gain at Ash Tree Farm, Oxfordshire

In 2021, the landowner at Ash Tree Farm set out to turn two hectares of species-poor horse pasture into a heritage orchard and species-rich grassland using voluntary biodiversity net gain payments generated by developments in the @Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire.

Traditional orchards are fantastic for wildlife because they contain a mosaic of different habitats: trees, hedgerows, and meadow grasslands. Having a variety of habitats creates lots of ecological ‘niches’ which can sustain lots of different types of wildlife (butterflies, bumblebees, birds, bats, and beetles to name a few). Since the 1950s, we have lost over 90% of these orchards across England and Wales.

BSG Ecology returned to Ash Tree Farm again this summer to see how the habitats were getting on. The results are in…

The fruit trees are healthy and will bear 114 different varieties of native fruit this year (some of which will be harvested but most left for the local wildlife). In the meadow, the average number of vascular plants per square metre has increased to 16.8, up from 6.1 when it was a horse paddock. We suspect the success of the wildflowers can be attributed to attentive management, the continued establishment of yellow rattle and the relatively low nutrient level of the soils that had not received artificial fertilisers for many years.  It's encouraging to see this long-term habitat restoration project get off to such a strong start.

2021: Traditional orchard after planting.

2024: Traditional orchard and wildflower meadow three years on.

Some things this project has taught us so far:

🌼 If you notice some of the species you seeded haven’t germinated, be patient. They might pop up next year.

🌳 When planting trees, think about how you’re going to get water to them if they need it.

🐜 Consider leaving some areas untouched each year. This gives wildlife somewhere to go while the rest of the site is being managed.

Keep up the good work, Ash Tree Farm!

All weather path connecting the community through nature

It is important that communities are able to get to and from their key amenities throughout the year whatever the weather. In Sandford on Thames a popular set of paths allow off-road access throughout the dry months but in the winter the residents are forced to walk beside a busy road to get to their village hall, wonderful local café, the village recreation ground with its play area and the newly planted community orchard.

A grant from TOE’s Local Environment Fund, with funding from South Oxfordshire District Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy, is supporting the paths to be upgraded with all-weather surfaces. Additional funding is being provided by the Parish Council and the neighbouring hotel.

These paths will allow families and other residents to enjoy the green spaces that exist behind the buildings along the main road. The paths cut through a recently planted orchard and gives views over the nearby countryside. Allowing children and adults easy access through countryside during their every day lives improves their feeling of wellbeing and will help encourage them to preserve and protect the natural world around them.

This grant is one of a series of applications improving the the green spaces around Sandford on Thames and is a wonderful example of TOE’s ability to fund several complementary projects in the same area.

Join our Team: New Trustees

Are you passionate about Oxfordshire and its natural environment? Would you like to join an engaged and friendly board of trustees? Would you like to help shape our future and deliver even more impact for nature?

The Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment is Oxfordshire’s environmental funder. Throughout our region, we support communities, civil society and individuals to protect and restore nature.

We are seeking to recruit two new trustees to our board. These are voluntary roles. You will need to be able to commit to attend 4 meetings a year plus additional task-based work. Reasonable expenses are paid.

Full detail and application process.

Deadline for Applications: 24 November 2024

A new Habitat Bank for Biodiversity Net Gain in Oxfordshire

Towersey Farm Habitat Bank near Thame is an exciting new 16.5 hectare nature recovery project in South Oxfordshire. The first such Habitat Bank to be granted a Section 106 agreement with South Oxfordshire District Council , it is only the second site to be granted this status in Oxfordshire.

Nature recovery in Oxfordshire

The site in May 2024 before work took place to restore species-rich grassland on former arable fields.

Located between the villages of Kingsey and Towersey, the Towersey Farm Habitat Bank is adjacent to the Cuttle Brook (a tributary of the River Thame and the boundary between Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire).

This important new project will see former farmland revert to species-rich wildflower grassland, while small areas of remaining grassland habitat will be enhanced and buffered. We will also establish areas of scrub and improve an area of existing wet woodland along the Cuttle Brook.

Towersey farm and the surrounding landscape have predominantly been used to cultivate cereal crops in recent history. Over the coming 30 years, the land will be managed as a species-rich hay meadow. By allowing wildflowers to bloom and set seed in the summer, then making hay in the autumn, habitat and food for a host of wildlife species will be created in an arable-dominated landscape. Managing scrub, woodland, and hedgerow habitats to increase their species diversity and structural complexity will create a range of ecological niches suited to farmland species in the local area. By removing the land from intensive agricultural production, fewer chemicals and less sediment will run into the Cuttle Brook that runs on the northern border of the site, improving the health of one of the River Thame’s main tributaries.

The site is adjacent to the Thame Valley Conservation Target Area (CTA), an area identified as strategically valuable for nature recovery in the county. The site will help buffer and enhance the biodiversity of the CTA and will provide important havens for wildlife moving through this key nature corridor.

The new hay meadows and woodland will create important habitat for pollinators, mammals and birds. Species which we would hope to see return to the site (and which are present in neighbouring areas of the Thame Valley CTA) include curlew, barn owl and water voles.

Biodiversity Net Gain Units for Sale in Oxfordshire

Towersey Farm Habitat Bank was officially launched in September 2024. The signing of an Section 106 agreement is a key step towards registering the site on the national biodiversity net gain register. Once registration is complete, the site will be able to complete and register sales of biodiversity net gain units under the new mandatory BNG policy.

The site will generate 65 units of medium distinctiveness grassland, scrub and individual trees, and high distinctiveness woodland and hedgerow habitat units. Developers interested in securing units can contact net.gain@trustforoxfordshire.org.uk

£50,000 available for nature recovery projects in South Oxfordshire

South Oxfordshire District Council has released a further £50,000 to provide grants for projects which increase biodiversity and encourage public access to green spaces in the district following the success of the scheme over its first 12 months.

Could a nature recovery or community access to nature project in your area of SODC be the next successful application ?

In September 2023 the council set up a new partnership with the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE), to give £50,000 as grants through TOE’s Local Environment Fund to help boost local nature recovery efforts and reduce the impacts of climate change.

Over the past year the money has been given to a variety of organisations including parish councils and environmental charities in Thame, Wheatley, East Hagbourne, Little Wittenham, Benson and Chalgrove.

The projects have ranged from the creation of ponds and butterfly banks to protective fencing for a meadow conservation area and boardwalk improvement to allow managed public access to a wetland habitat.

Community groups, town and parish councils, charities and non-profit organisations are invited to apply to TOE for funding to support projects which help look after South Oxfordshire’s green spaces.

The grants, that range from £1,000 and £15,000, can be used for tree and hedgerow planting or restoring community orchards, ponds, and nature-rich meadows.  They could also be used to improve access to the countryside and green spaces, for example by replacing stiles with gates for better accessibility and improving pathways.

The fund uses money from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) paid by developer contributions.

Early applications are encouraged, so any South Oxfordshire based group involved in protecting and restoring their local environment should contact TOE to find out more.

Cllr David Rouane, South Oxfordshire District Council leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Action, said: “We’ve been delighted by the take-up of the fund over the past year which has gone towards supporting some wonderful projects to support green spaces in South Oxfordshire.

“Extending the fund and therefore the opportunities to improve access to green spaces and to create new wildlife areas is vital both for increasing biodiversity and also people’s wellbeing.

“We’re partnering with TOE again to administer these grants as they have specialist knowledge and experience with funding good quality biodiversity projects.”

Ben Heaven Taylor, chief executive of TOE, said: “It was great to be able to support these seven community projects across SODC last year with the Community Infrastructure Levy funding.  The projects all demonstrated strong community action, connecting local residents with the nature on their doorstep.  We’re very pleased to receive this second tranche of funding enabling us to continue supporting grass-roots projects across the District.”

7 Grants were awarded from the 2023/24 funding pot

7 grants were awarded from the first funding pot in 2023/2024 covering all different types of project. Here’s a flavour of them. Would a project you are thinking of be eligible ? Talk to us at TOE.

The Chiltern Society £7,637

Chalgrove’s gateway to the Chilterns path improvements replacing stiles for gates and gaps to make access to nature easier for walkers.

East Hagbourne Parish Council £7,515

Resurfacing of a footpath at Butts Piece in East Hagbourne to allow all year round access through to other parts of the village through tree lined paths.

Thame Green Living (on behalf of Thame Town Council) £5,978

Fencing and boardwalk at Rycote Meadow in Thame to allow walkers across the newly conservation project area while protecting the species rich meadow from trampling and dogs.

Earth Trust £11,414

Fencing and tree planting to restore a neglected hazel coppice coup in the SSSI in Little Wittenham Wood to replace lost trees and protect the area for the biodiversity.

The Howe Trust £9,841

Creation of new ponds, butterfly banks and replace gates at the Howe Trust Community Ponds Project in Wheatley.

Benson Parish Council £2,250

Hedge cutting and willow pollarding to create a community green space at Cuckoo Pen in Benson

Benson Parish Council £5,365

Replacement of the Millbrook Mead walkway in Benson through an important marsh/wetland habitat to allow public access whilst protecting the wetland.

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Find out more about the SODC Fund for nature recovery projects on the South Oxfordshire District Council website.

Detailed guidance and application forms are on the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment website.

Applications are accepted quarterly. The next deadline for applications is 7 October 2024, then 6 January 2025. Submissions close at midday.

Before applying please do check that your project idea meets TOE’s funding criteria by contacting Rachel Sanderson, Head of Community Grants, admin@trustforoxfordshire.org,uk and 01865 407003. We are here to help you start organising strong nature recovery and community access projects that will make a real difference.

Thanks for SODC for partnering with TOE for these great projects.

How are Local Planning Authorities approaching Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)? 🌳

Great to see our habitat bank at Lopemede Farm in Buckinghamshire featuring in this new film about biodiversity net gain by @Natural England. We helped farmer @Eddie Rixon bring these units to the national biodiversity net gain register earlier this year, which were amongst the first to be registered, and we are excited to see this important habitat be restored. 

🌱 If you are looking for off-site BNG units in Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties, or if you are interested in learning more about putting some of your land into a habitat bank, get in touch with us at net.gain@trustforoxfordshire.org.uk

Watch the full video here: Biodiversity Net Gain Site: Buckinghamshire Council’s Lopemede Farm - YouTube

Two new grants to improve ponds for wildlife

Look into the depths of a pond and you will be amazed at the abundance of life you see there.  Whether they’re natural or man-made, these essential habitats support an incredible two-thirds of all freshwater species. Creating and restoring healthy ponds is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect biodiversity and TOE is delighted to have awarded grants to two pond restoration projects recently.

The two pond restoration projects are at Hill End in Farmoor near Oxford, and at Adderbury Lakes near Banbury.

Hill End is a long-established outdoor education centre, providing a diverse range of outdoor activities to schools and organised groups since the 1920s.  Thousands of visitors are inspired by nature at Hill End every year.  With their grant, the Hill End team will restore wonderful historic ponds so future visitors will be able to enjoy supervised pond dipping and other pond-related activities.  Importantly, the ponds are also home to Great Crested Newts, which are a priority species in the UK, and restoration will improve the quality of their habitat allowing the newts to thrive.

In the 19th century Adderbury Lakes were part of the ornamental garden of Adderbury House.  After a long period of neglect, the two interconnected lakes were restored in the 1980s and are now registered as a Local Nature Reserve.  The mix of water and woodland habitat is considered a very valuable village resource and approximately[AP3]   15,000 people visit every year for recreation and nature walks.  Until just a few years ago the water was crystal clear with abundant waterfowl including swans, herons and kingfishers - but in 2019 the lakes were hit by farm run-off and sewage pollution. 

After two years of campaigning and remedial work by Thames Water and the Environment Agency, the pollution was eventually stopped and the quality of the water, which is regularly monitored, has improved.  The Adderbury Lakes management group are now working to remove the excess weed which spread when the lakes were too high in nutrients to restore the lakes to their former glory.  The grant from TOE will fund a contractor to remove the blanket weed mechanically and the volunteers will  then manage the pond by hand in future.

TOE is delighted to award these grants to create open water for wildlife and to provide places for more wildlife education allowing children and others to experience, enjoy and learn about the natural world .

Both projects have been awarded grants from TOE with funding from Grundon Waste Management Ltd through the Landfill Communities Fund.

Supporting evidence-based nature conservation

Thanks to grants from TOE’s Local Environment Fund, volunteers from three community groups are now out and about recording the wildlife near where they live. 

Wild Tilehurst, Wild Cookham and Keep Nethercote Rural have all received grants this year from TOE for equipment used in citizen science projects which are recording species, increasing awareness of their presence, encouraging volunteer involvement and providing new data to wider projects that will help protect our environment into the future. 

Wild Tilehurst promotes awareness of wildlife locally, encouraging residents to participate in events such as bat surveys, bird watching, nature walks, wildlife friendly gardening as well as sharing wildlife sightings in the area. Wild Tilehurst only formed this March (2024) and their grant has funded some of their set up costs, a trail camera and a bat detector. 

Wild Cookham, established in 2014, takes action and encourages personal commitment to champion local environmental issues, biodiversity and wildlife protection.  Their successful application was for pond testing kits that will enable the group to survey the numerous ponds and waterways in Cookham.  The rigorous level of testing and analysis will be used to identify where changes in management could result in an improvement in the biodiversity found in the ponds surveyed, and provide evidence to those responsible for the upkeep of the ponds to make those changes.  

#KEEPNETHERCOTERURAL have bought a bat detector with their grant enabling volunteers to identify the species that make their home around Nethercote and help protect them.  Established in December 2021, one of the aims of Keep Nethercote Rural is to record the biodiversity presence in the hamlet close to Banbury and to make the species data available to relevant authorities and bodies to support preservation and enhancement.  This aim then supports their wish to enhance local biodiversity and to promote Nethercote as a place for recreation and access to green space.    

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Are you interested in helping survey nature ?  There are loads of groups and organisations who need volunteers !  But if you are one of those groups or organisations and you need equipment to survey wildlife on your doorstep then do contact us at TOE to see if your project could be supported by a grant and how to go about it.  

https://www.trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/local-environment-fund

Young curlews on the Cherwell

Many people love the curlew’s special call and appearance, know the bird is declining, and want to see them helped.  The decline of curlews followed the change in agricultural practice to early and multiple cutting for silage instead of farmers taking a later cut of hay.  Curlews are now an internationally vulnerable bird, declining in numbers and are on the Red List.  For the sake of their survival, biodiversity efforts are being made to protect them. 

Thanks to a grant from TOE’s Local Environment Fund, dedicated volunteers from Banbury Ornithological Society and the Curlew Recovery Project have been able to protect nests along the upper reaches of the River Cherwell with temporary fencing this season. This protection has proved invaluable, enabling chicks to successfully fledge this summer. 

Curlews tend to return to the same area to breed each year.  As long as the curlews keep coming back to Oxfordshire to breed, Banbury Ornithological Society’s Curlew Recovery Project wants to help them and has an established and successful methodology.  We hope they will return to Oxfordshire to breed themselves in the future. 

Biodiversity Net Gain: perspectives from local planning authorities

Biodiversity net gain is an exciting new tool that can be used to help us meet our environmental objectives in the coming years. Landowners across England and Wales can apply to set up ‘Habitat Banks’ which are strategically positioned to deliver biodiversity gains where developers are not able to meet their BNG requirements onsite. These gains need to be secured through a legal agreement, either in the form of a Conservation Covenant with a designated Responsible Body or through an S106 agreement with the local planning authority (LPA). TOE is delighted to have been involved in one of the first projects in the country with a BNG S106 agreement at Lopemede, an exciting floodplain restoration project along the river Thame in Buckinghamshire.

If you would like to read more about the views of some of the local planning authorities that have entered these agreements with landowners, you can find the recently published Government blog here: Securing off-site biodiversity net gain: insights from local planning authorities – Environment (blog.gov.uk)

Grants awarded from SODC's CIL Fund

Six projects across South Oxfordshire that will help to improve people’s access to nature, make better places for wildlife, and create a community-growing area recently received grants from the SODC Community Infrastructure Levy Fund administered by the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE).

The successful projects are:

• Rycote Meadow Conservation Project in Thame.

• Footpath management by the Chiltern Society volunteers and improvements to footpaths near Chalgrove.

• The creation of three new ponds by The Howe Trust in Wheatley.

• The initial phase of work to transform the derelict Cuckoo Pen plant nursery in Benson into a community garden.

• Coppice restoration to improve biodiversity and sustainable forestry in Little Wittenham Wood for the Earth Trust.

• The re-surfacing of a stretch of popular Footpath 4 in East Hagbourne.

Ben Heaven Taylor, chief executive officer of TOE, said: ‘We are delighted to have distributed £44,635 from the SODC Community Infrastructure Levy fund. There’s still money available to help more people transform their ideas into reality with grants ranging between £1,000 and £15,000 for tree and hedgerow planting, restoring community orchards, ponds, and nature-rich meadows across South Oxfordshire.’

Apply here: https://www.trustforoxfordshire.org.uk/local-environment-fund

Update about tax implications for Biodiversity Net Gain

Taxation of Environmental Land Management and Ecosystem Service markets.

As announced at Spring Budget 2024, the Government will introduce legislation in a future finance bill to extend the scope of agricultural property relief from Inheritance Tax to Environmental Land Management from 6 April 2025, following the consultation in 2023.

Relief will be available for land managed under an environmental agreement with, or on behalf of, the UK Government, Devolved Administrations, Public Bodies, Local Authorities, or approved Responsible Bodies. This includes agreements in place on or after 6 March 2024.

The government will also establish a joint working group between HM Treasury, HMRC, and industry representatives to identify solutions that provide clarity on the tax treatment of the production and sale of Ecosystem Service credits and associated units, where existing law or guidance may not provide sufficient clarity.

If you would like more in-depth information regarding this update, see the full publication below or head to https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/taxation-of-environmental-land-management-and-ecosystem-service-markets.

TOE at the NFU Biodiversity Net Gain Conference

Thank you to the NFU (National Farmer's Union) for inviting TOE's very own Ben Taylor (CEO) and Karen Lindley (Head of BNG) to speak at their BNG event in partnership with Natural England and Berkley Group a couple of weeks ago.

This event was to learn about the risks, challenges and potential rewards attached to implementing BNG. It was great to think collaboratively with farmers and landowners, fostering an inclusive dialogue and community around BNG.

If you would like to learn about BNG, or if you’re feeling left out, you can watch the conference in full below.

Watch the event here.