Environment Bank Launches Chester and Ellesmere Port Habitat Banks to Boost Biodiversity in Cheshire

 Environment Bank, the leading off-site Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) provider, has announced the launch of Chester and Ellesmere Port Habitat Banks in Cheshire, adding to its growing national network of dedicated nature recovery sites.

Together, these two neighbouring sites cover a more than 180 acres of land, restoring the landscape using sustainable livestock grazing methods to create diverse habitats and help local ecosystems thrive. These new habitats have been specifically designed to encourage an abundance of native flora and fauna, including wildflower meadows, native mixed scrub, and ponds.

As part of its ongoing habitat creation efforts, Environment Bank recently undertook its first-ever innovative natural regeneration trial at these Habitat Banks to establish new scrubland. The process involves cutting existing berry hedges and laying the brash in proposed scrub areas, allowing berries to germinate naturally, while the brash protects young seedlings from browsing wildlife and provides perches for birds, which help disperse seeds, supporting a self-sustaining cycle of habitat growth.

Anne Gray, Senior Land Manager at Environment Bank who oversees these sites, said: “Our Chester and Ellesmere Port Habitat Banks run side by side. Together they total more than 180 acres and offer an exciting opportunity to create a large area for nature on the edge of the Liverpool and Chester commuter zone.

“It is really important that nature is embedded into otherwise busy, developed landscapes. Nature shouldn’t be something we do only in national parks or remote rural areas, it should be part of our everyday lives, and that is only possible if it is close to where people live.

“The habitats we’re creating will be managed by the local landowner’s red poll cattle – a rare breed dual purpose, milk and beef, cow which we expect to see a comeback on sites such as ours. These sites both sit on the banks of the River Gowy, so we have a wonderful opportunity to re-establish the wetlands and wet pasture of the past.”

Chester Habitat Bank

Situated within five miles of Chester, near Mickle Trafford along the River Gowy, the 135-acre site will transform low-value grazing land into a rich patchwork of restored wetland habitats. Accessible via multiple Public Rights of Way (PRoW), Chester Habitat Bank will offer opportunities for the public to engage with the evolving natural environment.

The site includes extensive areas of floodplain and coastal grazing marsh, prone to seasonal flooding, making it ideal for the creation of floodplain wetland mosaics, ditches and ponds. These habitats are being carefully designed by Environment Bank ecologists to support amphibians, wetland birds and other species of conservation concern, while also contributing to broader landscape-scale biodiversity objectives.

Ellesmere Port Habitat Bank

Covering almost 50-acres, Ellesmere Port Habitat Bank is helping to connect habitats between Bridge Trafford and Mickle Trafford. Environment Bank ecologists are working with the landowner to transform the former arable fields into a diverse landscape that will play a key role in restoring low-productivity farmland to ecologically valuable habitats of native scrub, species-rich wildflower grassland, ponds and fruit tree orchards.

The site has been designed to attract a range of priority species such as bats, newts, badgers and pollinating insects, while also extending woodland cover to create a thriving refuge for invertebrates and bird species of special conservation status.

Delivering high-integrity Biodiversity Units

Following a thorough assessment of the site, Environment Bank is generating a range of high-integrity Biodiversity Units to provide an effective local off-site BNG option for developers in the region.

The Biodiversity Units from Chester Habitat Bank offer an effective local off-site BNG solution for the Cheshire West and Chester local planning authority (LPA) and the Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain National Character Area (NCA). The Biodiversity Units from Ellesmere Port Habitat Bank will cover the same LPA area and the Clun and North West Herefordshire Hills NCA. These Units are ready to purchase now, subject to availability.

These are two of more than 45 BNG sites from Environment Bank’s national network, created and managed by its team of ecologists in partnership with rural landowners, that covers almost 3,000 acres of land in total. These sites transform low-yielding farmland into nature recovery sites and maximise biodiversity uplifts, unlocking more than 8,000 off-site Biodiversity Units for developers to purchase.

Chester and Ellesmere Habitat Banks are on track to be added to the national biodiversity gain sites register in February 2026.

BNG not only contributes to national biodiversity objectives but also offers farmer and rural landowners a way to diversify their income streams, enhance their natural landscape and build business resilience for their farms.