By Isle of Wight Observer
Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust has launched its first Isle of Wight habitat bank at Wilder Little Duxmore.
The site, on a tributary of Wootton Creek, will allow developers across southern England and the Solent, to reserve off-site Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units where they cannot achieve the required ten per cent uplift on-site.
BNG is a legal requirement in England, meaning new developments must leave nature in a better state than before.
Wilder Little Duxmore is being restored from former intensive arable land into a mix of priority habitats, including neutral grassland, mixed scrub, species-rich hedgerows with trees, and rare chalk grassland.
Chalk grassland is one of the UK’s most threatened habitats, with around 80 per cent lost since the 1940s. It supports wildlife, including chalkhill blue and marbled white butterflies, skylarks, harvest mice, common rock-rose and horseshoe vetch.
Deborah Whitfield, senior nature-based solutions manager at the trust, said the scheme would give developers “an accessible, high-quality route” to deliver BNG while creating long-lasting benefits for nature.
