Welcome to the RSK Wilding news summary for summer 2023
After a blisteringly hot late May and early June, we seem to be back to more typical British summer weather – wind, rain and cool temperatures! But I’m sure most of our gardens were crying out for a good watering…
Our work continues to be very exciting, and RSK Wilding is getting ever closer to creating its first large-scale habitat bank. This will involve providing the biodiversity offsetting for a major development in the south-east of England. Assuming the scheme gets through planning, we will start creating up to 70 hectares of new habitat on a nearby site pretty promptly. We have bought an option on the land required and know that we can create most of the habitats we need (to replace those being lost). This really is a massive area of land when you look at it on the ground, and the thought of creating large amounts of biodiversity-rich habitat to be enjoyed in perpetuity by future generations is truly awe-inspiring.
On a slightly smaller scale, we have been working closely with Hart District Council in Hampshire on how to maximise the biodiversity and carbon benefits to be gained from targeted habitat interventions at the authority’s several countryside sites, which include parkland and Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspaces (SANG). We are currently in the process of developing detailed (and costed) designs for a number of the sites and will then support the council in securing funding to deliver the improvements. This should help the council to expedite development projects in its area by providing biodiversity credits for developers.
We have been providing biodiversity net gain (BNG) webinars for an increasing number of clients, from housebuilders and contractors to major infrastructure providers, and it is clear that many organisations are keen to understand the implications of net gain for their businesses. In particular, we are very interested to support any companies looking for bespoke strategic offsets that might deliver the biodiversity net gain required for more than one project in a local authority area, as we see this as a cost-effective but also ecologically sound way of delivering the required biodiversity units.
A key focus for us over this period has been acoustic biodiversity monitoring. This has been largely to make the most of our three-month PhD intern from University College London, Peggy Bevan. Peggy’s thesis is on the effectiveness and application of AudioMoth-style technology to biodiversity monitoring, and it is certainly something we are keen to develop. As a team, we recognise that habitat monitoring using UKHab will necessarily be the standard way of auditing the performance of our schemes (and specifically the achievement of the required biodiversity units). However, we feel that many of our clients will also be keen to know which species are turning up on their sites, as long as it’s not too expensive to work this out! So we hope that automated noise detectors with inbuilt auto-identification software will be the way forward.
In mid-June, RSK Wilding visited Radnorshire Wildlife Trust’s “Wild Pentwyn” project (a newly acquired farm with plans for rewilding) and the much more well-established Gilfach Nature Reserve. Both locations provided invaluable ‘hands-on’ examples to the team regarding the technical requirements and effectiveness of different interventions, from extensive grazing and the application of green hay for grassland/meadow creation to the blocking of moorland grips to restore peat and create diverse wetland.
RSK Wilding was very proud to have had a stand at Groundswell this year. This is essentially the Glastonbury of regenerative agriculture, and we talked to many farmers, landowners and land agents about the potential for BNG, especially within the context of a regeneratively farmed landscape. There were numerous interesting and relevant talks, primarily by experts in their fields, not to mention some amazing sustainable food stalls (I can heartily recommend short-rib beef lasagne from long-horn cows!). In one talk, all three main political parties were represented and there was complete consensus (will wonders never cease?!) regarding the need to completely change our farming system to make it better for biodiversity, the wider environment, food nutrition and indeed the farmers themselves.
Last but by no means least, we are very happy to share with you a link to a competitor’s website! Lyla Cawley, the daughter of one of our colleagues, has won (along with her classmates) a national award called the Young Green Briton Challenge. The website they created is called Bio Revival, and it provides all sorts of useful advice for schools wanting to enhance biodiversity on their grounds (www.biorevival.co.uk). This is just the sort of venture RSK Wilding wants to encourage, and I was very happy and proud to provide an endorsement for the girls as part of their submission. Lyla and her schoolmates were presented with the trophy at the House of Lords in late June. Their advice is just as helpful for those wanting to increase wildlife in their gardens, so I encourage you to take a look at what you can do to help reverse biodiversity loss in the UK!
Have a great summer everyone,
Jon Davies, Director, RSK Wilding