This page lists all habitat banks in Oxfordshire with biodiversity net gain units for sale that have a signed Section 106 agreement or conservation covenant, or those which are in the process of finalising these. Oxfordshire has an established history of delivering high quality biodiversity offsets going back to 2014. Our trusted partners in the county are positioned to meet the requirements of developers who need to purchase offsite units.

We support 20% BNG for developments and for Local Plans, and have created an evidence base to help explain why this is necessary.

Several habitat banks are in development in Oxfordshire - we will keep this page up to date as more are available.

Oxfordshire NatureMark is an initiative from the Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership. Its purpose is to ensure that Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) delivers better outcomes for nature in Oxfordshire. It provides a voluntary framework through which habitat banks in Oxfordshire can demonstrate that they have met standards of integrity, transparency and technical quality.

NatureMark is designed to:

Oxfordshire NatureMark is a voluntary publication standard designed to show that a participating habitat bank meets seven commonly-accepted Nature Market Principles.

Participating schemes fill out a self-assessment questionnaire and provide a suite of documents relating to their habitat bank site, all of which are then published on a publicly-accessible register on this website.

We currently ask participants to publish the following:

Some redactions are permitted (sensitive personal or commercial information) but the end result must ensure that the site is clearly identifiable and verifiable against the standard by any interested third party. See disclaimer below.

In the UK - and in Oxfordshire particularly - we are pioneers of biodiversity offsetting. When Statutory Biodiversity Net Gain was introduced throughout England via the Environment Act 2021, the Government introduced a detailed regulatory framework to ensure that the market in Biodiversity Net Gain units developed to meet the ambitious aims of the policy.

However, the BNG market is brand new and no policy is ever foolproof. Oxfordshire NatureMark has been designed to provide an additional level of comfort to stakeholders in the BNG market - from members of the public, to 'buyers', to investors - by requiring an additional level of transparency, over and above what is demanded by the regulatory system.

Oxfordshire NatureMark requires a habitat bank operator to place all the key governing documentation for a given habitat bank in the public domain. Any third party can then freely and easily access that information to verify for themselves how a particular scheme is being run.

Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a way of creating and improving natural habitats. BNG makes sure development has a measurably positive impact (‘net gain’) on biodiversity, compared to what was there before development. Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is mandatory from 12 February 2024, meaning all developers must deliver a BNG of 10%. This can be delivered onsite or offsite. Where it is delivered offsite, developers must purchase BNG credits from approved 'habitat banks' that have a signed Section 106 agreement with the relevant Local Planning Authority (LPA) and which appear on the DEFRA BNG register.

The market for biodiversity offsets is new and can be difficult to navigate. We have worked with our trusted partners to collate all approved habitat banks in Oxfordshire. This is an emerging market - this page will be kept up to date as new habitat banks emerge.

The Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership (OLNP) does not directly advise developers or landowners on how to navigate biodiversity net gain offsetting. If you are looking for advice, please get in touch with our partners the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE) and Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT).

OLNP is also working on wider environmental markets, such as voluntary biodiversity and carbon credits, in line with the Oxfordshire Nature Finance Strategy. If you are a prospective buyer or investor and would like to discuss early stage involvement in some of these projects, please get in touch via the contact form below.
Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a way of creating and improving natural habitats. BNG makes sure development has a measurably positive impact (‘net gain’) on biodiversity, compared to what was there before development. Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is mandatory from 12 February 2024, meaning all developers must deliver a BNG of 10%. This can be delivered onsite or offsite. Where it is delivered offsite, developers must purchase BNG credits from approved 'habitat banks' that have a signed Section 106 agreement with the relevant Local Planning Authority (LPA) and which appear on

The following text is taken from the DEFRA website:
• BNG is an approach to development. It makes sure that habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably better state than they were before the development.
• In England, BNG is mandatory under Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021).
• Developers must deliver a BNG of 10%. This means a development will result in more or better quality natural habitat than there was before development.

BNG mitigation hierarchy is as follows:
1) avoidance of habitat loss
2) enhancement of existing habitats
3) creation of new habitat onsite
4) allocation of registered offsite gains
5) purchase of biodiversity credits.

You can find out more here.

Although government policy does not explicitly require Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units to be purchased within the same county as a development, the LNP believes that there are ecological and social reasons why it is preferable to do so. Ecologically, habitats work best when they form part of a connected landscape. Locally sited BNG units can plug gaps in existing green infrastructure, support wildlife movement, and help build a resilient network of habitats that better reflects the natural character of the area. When habitats are created far away, the ecological benefits are less likely to reach the species and ecosystems affected by the development, and the gains can become isolated rather than contributing to wider landscape recovery.

There are also important community and wellbeing benefits to keeping mitigation local. People who live near a development should be able to enjoy and benefit from the nature improvements it delivers, whether through improved access to green space, opportunities for recreation, or the mental and physical health benefits of nearby natural environments.

Local mitigation is also more likely to gain community support and encourage long-term stewardship, because residents can see and engage with the new habitats. In addition, aligning BNG with the county’s own planning priorities and nature recovery strategies helps ensure that habitat creation contributes to wider local objectives such as flood management, ecosystem services, and climate resilience, rather than concentrating all benefits in a single distant area.

The DEFRA Biodiversity Metric includes a Spatial Risk Multiplier that values off-site habitat creation most highly when it is delivered within the same Local Planning Authority as the development, meaning local BNG units count at full value while more distant units are discounted, thereby incentivising mitigation to be delivered close to where biodiversity loss occurs.

In order to be permissible, offsite biodiversity net gain units must be listed on the national register. Units can only do this once they are covered by a signed Section 106 agreement with the local planning authority (or conservation covenant, with a responsible body). To check the units you wish to purchase are legitimate, please check they feature on the national register.

Local Planning Authority websites have information on BNG requirements - check the local authority in your area.

Bespoke advice, site visits and more can be provided by Oxfordshire Local Nature Partnership partners such as Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE), Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), and their wholly owned Wildlife Trust consultancy Future Nature WTC.

Statutory credits are provided by Natural England. They are considered an option of last resort, and in Oxfordshire its considered unlikely any developer will need to buy them. This is because we already have a number of available BNG units for sale in the county (see above), and statutory credits are priced to be expensive in comparison. Information on statutory credits can be found on Gov UK here.