We have been shortlisted as a finalist in the Coventry/Warwickshire Live Business Awards 2022 in the Green Business of the Year category for the Alscot Biodiversity Project.

The Awards celebrate the city's finest businesses, entrepreneurs, and organisations across 12 different categories

Through the Alscot Biodiversity Project, 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, encouraging rare and almost extinct species to thrive. The principal to establish a functioning ecosystem, where nature is given as much freedom as possible, is a leading influence for all future land projects at Alscot and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a key component in achieving these objectives.

The need for receptor sites as part of the Biodiversity Offsetting scheme within Warwickshire, a policy revolution that is key in Government efforts to reverse biodiversity decline over the coming years, provides an opportunity for a new enterprise, which is sympathetic to the landscape and meets the environmental objectives for the Estate.

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, 47.86 acres of land has now been given over to Biodiversity Offsetting in the first phase.

The Alscot Biodiversity Project follows a process-lead approach to deliver landscape habitat creation and enhancement. Detailed surveys carried out by experienced ecologists, provided a base for a long-term management plan to be devised and formulated to enable delivery of an accountable long-term scheme.

The landmark deal, which commenced in April 2020, allows us to offer biodiversity offsetting 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.

Through careful management and investment, our objective is to 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 project is now in its third year having achieved success in year one and two, in both sales of biodiversity units and land management with tangible results - there are strong signs that richer and more varied species are afoot. And soil sampling proves the soil quality is heading in the right direction with nutrient levels decreasing. However, it’s nothing compared to what it should look like in five, or ten-year’s time. Ecologists undertake routine monitoring of the targets, and findings are routinely submitted to the Local Planning Authority and used to inform modification to the management interventions.

Committing land to a long-term biodiversity project, protects the land from development and intense farming, thus building natural capital and the biodiversity value of the land.

The project gives further scope to engage with the wider community and we are actively working with local primary schools and the community to encourage and promote interest and understanding of biodiversity, climate change and the important business of offsetting. Biodiversity is something spectacular and Alscot recognises the importance of conserving it.

The success of the Warwickshire Estate is founded on its visionary approach to estate management, with diversification a core element and innovation and foresight for future generations, at the forefront of any decisions and actions. The introduction of sustainable and renewable forestry and farming practices has been implemented across the Estate as part of the wider long term strategic plan.

The river Stour and its floodplain form an important element of the parkland setting of the family home, the river also forms an important wildlife corridor through the Estate. Other habitats present within the site include areas of plantation woodland, dense scrub, boundary hedges and an area of swamp. This diverse baseline provides a broad range of opportunities to deliver a complimentary mosaic of habitats.

In addition to the existing wetlands, woodlands, and grasslands, 4,000 wildflower plugs, 7,000 woodland bulbs and 40 shrubs have been planted. This coming year will see another 2000 bulbs planted, 130kg of Yellow Rattle and 125kg of wildflower mix sown. Standing deadwood has been purposely created on the BNG site. Deadwood plays a key role in ecosystem functioning and productivity in terrestrial and riparian habitats. It provides habitat for many species of bryophytes, lichens, fungi, invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Leaving standing deadwood to play its essential role is common practice in our woodland management program, across the Estate.

The drive for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) through government legislation creates incentives to manage land in ways which benefit the environment, and Alscot recognises the emerging commercial opportunities this brings. Biodiversity units are made available to developers that need to offset the impact of development.

As green space is lost to development within the local community, the Alscot Biodiversity Project site lends itself to primary school activity days, where children observe nature; wildlife/plant life, wetlands, and natural meadowland, in a safe environment. Alscot has engaged with six local primary schools and the children transfer their practical studies and integrate those findings into classroom studies.

Engagement between Alscot, teachers, pupils and Eco Club members continues, and in Spring 2021, the students took part in an art competition. The children were tasked to design a logo to represent nature in Warwickshire and over 285 entries were submitted. The panel of judges; James Fair – BBC wildlife writer and journalist, Stephanie Matthews – Environmental Planning & Policy at Natural England, Hannah Young, RSC Actor and Associate Learning Practitioner and Emma Holman-West, who heads biodiversity at Alscot, debated and deliberated carefully over the art.

The winner’s presentation took place on 1 July, where Jacqui O’Hanlon, Director of Learning and Education, RSC and David Lowe, Head of Ecology, WCC, were present to meet the children and award the prizes. The event was attended by local press and featured in the local newspaper. In May 2022, the first activity day took place on site with a class of 40 year six students from a local primary school. Warwickshire County Council backed the scheme and was attended by two ecologists, who presented a talk on newts to the children.

Being a pioneering venture, the Alscot Biodiversity Project attracts ongoing attention from the wider business community, including that of Government officials working to mitigate the effects of HS2 and Rebecca Pow MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Alscot Park was the venue on Friday 4th March 2022, for government ministers and officials and other leading industry representatives, to come together and discuss Biodiversity Net Gain at Warwickshire’s first major private project site. https://www.alscot.co.uk/news/2022/3/9/ministers-attend-warwickshires-leading-private-biodiversity-net-gain-project

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. Sadly, the Earth’s biodiversity is in decline due to activities such as deforestation, land-use change agricultural intensification, over-consumption of natural resources, pollution, and climate change. There is a growing concern about the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services and the associated impacts it has on human health and economic development. The welfare of human beings is deeply linked to nature, the existence of wild animals and plants. Biodiversity allows us to live healthy lives, it provides us with food directly, or through pollination, medical discoveries, and ecosystem services. These services are imperative and include everything from cleaning water and absorbing chemicals, which wetlands do, to providing oxygen for us to breathe. 

Through Emma’s leadership and innovation Alscot has adapted to suit diverse 21st century needs whilst being sympathetic to its natural surroundings, the environment, and the local community.

Improving biodiversity alongside supporting business can be complex and tricky. Planning and development are essential to the strength of Warwickshire's economy. Safeguarding and improving biodiversity throughout the county is essential to all our futures. Marrying up these two great objectives, so that both are achieved, can be complicated business, but it is a high priority.

This project demonstrates commitment, sustainability, innovation, transferability, and longevity towards carbon zero status and combatting environmental issues.  The Alscot Biodiversity Project is already recognised as a viable environmental innovation, pathing the way for similar projects across the country, and upon completion the project will provide one of the county’s largest species rich grassland sites.