Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE), has now funded over £1million in nature recovery projects in the county in a little over 12 months.
Much of its work has been funded through Biodiversity Net Gain, a new UK policy through which developers can pay to offset biodiversity lost as a result of housing and commercial developments.
With Biodiversity Net Gain funds received from developers, TOE has been able to fund new nature recovery initiatives with a combined financial value of over £1million in the past year.
Our most recent recipient of funds, Sam Parsons say: TOE and BNG has given me the opportunity to fulfil one of my environmental ambitions, reverting an arable field to species rich grassland.
I feel I am being generously rewarded at the same time as creating something of beauty and value for generations to come.
I have had a painless experience of the necessary three rounds of application, through all of which I had support from TOE if any queries arose.
The agreed arrangement is less prescriptive than equivalent government-funded schemes and better funded, while overall the application process has been a pleasure. I recommend BNG, and TOE specifically, to any farmers or landowners with ambitions of field-scale environmental improvements.
I’ve greatly enjoyed meeting both TOE’s excellent advisors and their recommended botanists who share my passion for environmental enhancement. We have a plan in place for 30 years of traditional extensive agriculture that will only benefit our conventional farm.
