The Daily Telegraph reports example given of Alscot Estate which has been approved by Warwickshire County Council to sell biodiversity ‘units’ to developers wanting to make up for the loss of wildlife at nearby projects.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson is one customer which has bought credits to mitigate the effect of new homes in Warwick.  Under the Environment Bill, developments in England are required to deliver net improvements to biodiversity with developers needing to do this on the site itself or by investing in projects offsite such as the Alscot Estate.

As a last resort, they will be able to buy “biodiversity credits” from the Government which will invest the funds in habitat projects.