“It’s really good to see and hear of the work that you and your team are doing at Alscot. I do believe what you are achieving is truly commendable and I hope that it inspires others to do likewise”
Dr Nick White, Principal Biodiversity Net Gain Advisor at Natural England
Biodiversity Net Gain, or offsetting, is where conservation activities compensate for biodiversity loss, in a measurable way. It is compensation for habitats and species lost to development, with the creation of habitat in another area.
Alscot is an offset provider, offering for sale biodiversity conservation units that a developer can buy.
Click here for developer enquiries.
Biodiversity refers to the amazing variety of plant and animal life on earth, including diversity of ecosystems (a community or habitat of living organisms), genes and species, and ecological practices that support them. Biodiversity is the web of life.
Biodiversity is something spectacular and Alscot recognises the importance of conserving it.
Being one of the first ventures of its kind in the UK and the first private Estate to do so, having secured an agreement with the Local Authority in April 2020, 47.86 acres of estate land was given over to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), or Off-Setting as it sometimes referred to, in the first phase of the Alscot Biodiversity Project, which is a minimum 30 year undertaking.
The Alscot Biodiversity Project follows a process-lead approach to deliver landscape habitat creation and enhancement. It is our mission to work to secure a future for plant and animal species by the improvement and enhancement of natural grasslands and woodlands, creating wildlife corridors and encouraging rare and almost extinct species to thrive. Through careful management and investment, the accountable scheme will increase the biodiversity value of the land, working through a process to restore existing meadows to neutral grasslands, assisted by the types and quantity of flora that is planted.
The Estate works closely with experienced ecologists to to follow a detailed plan devised and formulated to enable delivery of an accountable long-term scheme.
The landmark deal, allows us to offer BNG units to property developers. A unit measures the proportion of land in any given location that will see biodiversity improvement. Activities such as the creation of habitats, compensate and mitigate biodiversity loss due to development elsewhere within the county. The scheme means economic activity can occur and the environment can continue to flourish.
BNG is part of efforts to make sure the wider environment’s biodiversity levels are unaffected by construction developments elsewhere.
The Telegraph - Growing A Market For English Nature
Read more about our Green Projects
Read more about Biodiversity Education at Alscot
Watch Alscot’s Introduction to Biodiversity Net Gain & How We Are Contributing to the UK’s Climate Change Amibitions Seminar on You Tube
Watch Savills Biodiversity Net Gain Soundbyte
Natural England Gust Blog How are land managers embracing biodiversity net gain? 🌿Land managers discuss opportunities created with biodiversity net gain - Natural England (blog.gov.uk)
Natural England Guest Blog How are land managers embracing biodiversity net gain? 🌿Featuring Emma Holman-West
