BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN AND
KENTS TRADITIONAL ORCHARDS
5th February 2024 - Posted in: Ecological
Could Biodiversity Net Gain bear fruit for Kent’s Traditional Orchard?
I’m fortunate enough to live and work in Kent, within the Faversham Fruit Belt, which is home to a relatively large proportion of ‘traditional orchard’ that remains in Kent, and the UK as a whole. The latest Kent Habitat Survey information suggests 1666ha of traditional orchard comprising 984 individual sites remain in Kent. Traditional orchard is recognised as a ‘priority habitat’ within ‘The Kent Biodiversity Strategy’, which essentially recognises the importance of this habitat within the county and where restoration efforts should be prioritised.
For many wildlife species traditional orchards are often an ‘island paradise’ within an intensively farmed landscape. They are home to a wide variety of rare species such as bats which may roost in hollow trunks and rot holes, reptiles and amphibians which may rely on fallen deadwood and brash piles for shelter, as well as many bird species including the lesser spotted woodpecker and invertebrate species such as the noble chafer beetle which rely on the standing and fallen deadwood characteristic of traditional orchards.
However, 90% of traditional orchards have been lost since the 1950s, many of the traditional apple orchards having been grubbed up due to agricultural intensification and replaced with commercial orchards. Many of the traditional orchards remaining in the Faversham Fruit Belt are cherry orchards.
Traditional orchards generally need appropriate active management if they are to remain havens for wildlife. Unfortunately, those remaining are often no longer considered commercially viable, and many have been left neglected. Common mistakes often include poor pruning or abandoning pruning entirely, ‘tidying up’ of dead and decaying wood and windfall, no planting of new trees, inappropriate grazing or cutting of the orchard floor, and the removal, or inappropriate management, of the bordering hedgerows.
Under the new mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation, and with the growing interest in ‘community orchards’ there is now the potential for these traditional orchards to be commercially viable and profitable again. In a nutshell, landowners have an opportunity to increase the biodiversity value of their land, for example by restoring their traditional orchards (or any valued habitat), and to sell the associated uplift back to developers to achieve their off-site BNG obligations. Landowners can sell these units to developers either independently, with one or more partners, or through a habitat bank operator. It is another potential source of revenue which, for example, could be used independently of, or alongside farming as well as positively contribute to achieving the aims and objectives set out in The Kent Biodiversity Strategy as well as other Local Nature Recovery Strategies.
If this is of interest to you, then the first step is consult a qualified ecologist who will assess the traditional orchard’s current condition and measure how many biodiversity units the orchard generates. Your ecologist will then be able to advise on your options for enhancing the habitat, usually by improving the traditional orchards existing condition through appropriate long-term management and monitoring, such as re-introducing a sensitive pruning and cutting regime, supplementary tree planting (which compliments the local environment), and biological or organic pest control. This would generally be set out within a ‘habitat management and monitoring plan’ (HMMP) which would cover at least 30 years and should be agreed with the local planning authority or other responsible body through a Section 106 Agreement or Conservation Covenant.
Tom Knight – PJC Director of Ecology