Cost
$ 242 /credit
Credits
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.
Your impact
What your credit supports
Every voluntary biodiversity credit contributes to the long-term restoration and stewardship of Boothby Wildland. Your support helps fund:
Restoration and stewardship of pond, grass and scrub habitats
Scientific monitoring and ecological reporting
Long term protection of land for nature
Community engagement and access to nature
Together, these activities support measurable biodiversity gains and the recovery of a resilient, nature-rich landscape.
High-integrity biodiversity credits
About Boothby Wildland's Voluntary Biodiversity Credits
Boothby's voluntary biodiversity credits enable businesses and individuals to support measurable nature recovery in England. Each credit supports a traceable 9m² habitat tile, allowing purchasers to connect their investment directly to the restoration of a specific location at Boothby Wildland. The Wildland is protected by a legal section 106 agreement, ensuring that benefits will be delivered over a minimum of 30 years. The project was rated 8.16/10 under Earthly's Keystone 3.0 assessment framework, which evaluates 168 indicators across biodiversity, carbon and community outcomes, making it the highest-rated voluntary biodiversity credits currently available on the platform. It has also obtained the highest community engagement score.
Designed with transparency, traceability and durability at their core, the credits help fund habitat restoration while providing confidence that outcomes are independently assessed, monitored and secured for the long term.Nature's recovery is already underway at Boothby Wildland. Extensive ecological monitoring has recorded a growing diversity of species across the site, including birds, bats, pollinators and mammals. Recent surveys have documented encouraging signs for species such as skylark and grey partridge, while otters have been recorded along the West Glen River and beavers have been reintroduced to help restore natural wetland processes.
As habitats continue to develop, Boothby is creating the conditions for an even greater diversity of wildlife to thrive across the landscape. Every biodiversity credit helps support this long-term recovery.
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Key information
Intervention
Habitat Restoration and Creation
Location
England
Credit type
Biodiversity Credits
Standard
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
Assessment methodology
Keystone 3.0
Sustainable Goals
Project performance
The Earthly rating
The Earthly rating is the industry-first holistic project assessment. Earthly researchers analyse 168 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 5.5/10.
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Carbon
138,000
tonnes of carbon to be sequestered over the next 50 years across Boothby Wildland
Biodiversity
108%
biodiversity increased since 2023
Social
3,300 +
volunteer hours have been recorded since 2022
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.
Take action for nature
Help restore a living landscape
By purchasing one of Boothby’s voluntary biodiversity credits, you're helping turn former intensive farmland into a thriving mosaic of grassland, wetland, scrub and woodland. Together, we're creating a landscape where wildlife can recover, natural processes can return, and people can reconnect with nature.
How we assess for quality
The Earthly scoring process
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Project gallery
Project pictures
All image credits: Jonathan Perugia for Nattergal
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