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Habitat Mosaic Creation - Boothby Wildland, Lincolnshire, England
Biodiversity Net Gain Units
Voluntary Biodiversity Credits
Boothby Wildland, owned by nature-restoration company Nattergal, spans 617 hectares and seeks to transform an intensively farmed arable landscape into a thriving mosaic of habitats, where species-rich grasslands and mixed scrub are being restored, ecological connectivity enhanced, and new scrapes and ponds created to provide both ephemeral and permanent wet habitats. The project is funded via a blend of public grants and private natural capital market revenue streams. It places the local community at its core, ensuring active participation through consultations and volunteering, and generating social and economic benefits through new employment opportunities, the growth of ecotourism, and enhanced public access that promotes wellbeing and nature connection.
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Project information
Habitat mosaic creation in Lincolnshire
Historically, this area of land in Lincolnshire was intensively farmed, and decades of cultivation have left it ecologically degraded, with limited habitat diversity and poor ecological connectivity. For example, the West Glen River has been 'canalised' (straightened and disconnected from its floodplain), while historical land drainage has resulted in very little standing water across the site. Tree cover is sparse, and the enlargement of fields over the past century has led to the loss of extensive hedgerow networks, further reducing habitat availability for wildlife.
The Boothby Wildland project aims to transform this arable farmland into a dynamic mosaic of habitats, including scrub, ponds, wood pasture, closed-canopy woodland, and restored river systems. Different areas of the site are supported by diverse natural capital revenue streams.
Nattergal has a natural process-led approach to nature restoration; they implement kick-start interventions in the first few years of a project’s management cycle, before letting nature run its course. This methodology will contribute to creating climate-resilient landscapes, composed of species-rich grasslands interspersed with dense, mixed-species scrub, hedgerows and woodlands, which will ultimately be managed by grazing herbivores, creating microhabitats that maximise biodiversity. The team has recently reintroduced beavers to help re-shape the West Glen River, create wetlands and slow the flow of water. Habitat connectivity between the fields will be strengthened through hedgerow restoration and linking corridors, while new scrapes and ponds will provide both ephemeral and permanent wet habitats, further enriching the ecological complexity of the landscape.
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Intervention
Habitat mosaic creation
Location
England
Standard
BNG
Sustainable Goals
Project performance
The Earthly rating
The Earthly rating is the industry-first holistic project assessment. Earthly researchers analyse 106 data points, aggregating information across the three vital pillars of carbon, biodiversity and people. Projects in Earthly's marketplace all exceed a minimum score of 5/10.
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Carbon
1,170
cores were collected for the baseline soil carbon assessment across the 617 ha Boothby site.
Biodiversity
7
bird species of conservation concern identified in the 617 ha site during baseline bioacoustic survey conducted in winter 2023.
Social
20,799
metres of permissive routes are planned to be established across the 617 ha Boothby site by 2050.
Project impact
Local impact
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Positive for people
The project demonstrates a strong commitment to meaningful stakeholder engagement from the earliest stages of planning. An independent stakeholder analysis was commissioned to identify more than 60 stakeholder organisations, including local residents, conservation groups, academics, government agencies and industry representatives. To refine their engagement strategy, the project developers also commissioned the Countryside and Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire and the Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery at Oxford University to produce a report on best practice community engagement on landscape-scale nature recovery projects, which has guided their engagement approach. Local stakeholders have been actively involved in decision-making through workshops and consultations.
For example, during the planning for the West Glen River proposed beaver reintroduction, community sessions were hosted to share information, address concerns, and co-design aspects of the project. This participatory approach has helped build trust and strengthen relationships within the local community. To ensure long-term collaboration, the project has also established a Community Group, providing local representation and serving as a voice for local residents, acting as a sounding board for proposals and helping to ensure the project continues to align with community values.
Beyond engagement, the project is generating tangible social and economic benefits. Public access to nature will be expanded, with permissive routes set to increase from 14.5km to over 20.8km by 2027, including a kilometre of fully accessible paths. This improved access supports recreation, wellbeing and a stronger connection between people and the local landscape. Education and volunteering are also central to the project, with local people participating in hands-on conservation activities. Boothby also enables environmental learning remotely through its WildMap platform, which shares ecological data of the site.
Moreover, by supporting local employment in land management and ecology and developing eco-tourism, the project contributes to a more resilient rural economy. Finally, the project's activities enhance vital ecosystem services for surrounding communities, improving air and water quality, reducing flood risk through restored hydrology, and mitigating climate change, ending high-emission farming practices. Social outcomes are continuously monitored through a robust set of indicators covering employment, education, access and community engagement.
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Good for earth
The Boothby Wildland site was originally intensively farmed arable land, under continuous cultivation since at least 1999. Within the designated habitat banks, the project will end arable farming and implement targeted habitat creation inspired by natural processes. The primary goal is to establish diverse, species-rich grasslands interspersed with dense, mixed-species scrub and wood-pasture. These habitats will be managed in perpetuity through natural grazing by large herbivores (yet to be reintroduced), which will scallop scrub edges and create a mosaic of microhabitats that maximise ecological niches.
The project will also enhance ecological connectivity, encourage natural succession (including the dynamism that comes from having large herbivores), and create clusters of scrapes and ponds within grassland areas, further enriching the ecological value of the landscape. Expected outcomes include the development of a diverse, dynamic mosaic of habitats supporting a rich variety of flora, fauna and fungi. The project is expected to significantly increase invertebrate abundance, enhance bat diversity and abundance, and support the recovery of a variety of grassland and woodland birds, as well as those who thrive in the rich scrub habitat.
To establish a robust ecological baseline, the project has undertaken extensive biodiversity surveys using multiple complementary methods. These include terrestrial invertebrate surveys, eDNA analysis of soil fungi and fauna, and bioacoustic monitoring of birds and bats across both winter and spring seasons. Botanical baselines were established through systematic vegetation plots to assess floristic diversity and composition. Continuous monitoring will allow Nattergal to track biodiversity outcomes over time.
Habitat condition monitoring follows the UK Government’s Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs’ (DEFRA) Statutory Biodiversity Metric, developed for use within the statutory Biodiversity Net Gain regulation, and uses UKHab definitions for habitat types. Surveys are conducted annually during the first five years, with frequency adjusted to every two or five years as habitats mature and stabilise. Additional biodiversity monitoring encompasses multiple taxa and ecological indicators, assessing species richness, abundance, and community composition. This includes bioacoustic surveys of birds to track population changes, eDNA and field-based monitoring of invertebrate abundance and diversity, acoustic monitoring of bat activity, botanical surveys of plant diversity, and aquatic biodiversity and water quality.
Project gallery
Project pictures
All image credits: Jonathan Perugia for Nattergal
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