EnTrade, the UK’s leading marketplace for nature recovery, has welcomed the government’s proposals for a new approach to housing and infrastructure development. 

The proposed reforms will use developer contributions to deliver environmental improvements at a scale driving much-needed private finance into nature recovery. The government is seeking views on the proposals and how housing and infrastructure development can meet its environmental obligations and contribute to nature recovery. 

The government stated that it is committed to “Growing nature markets and harnessing these to support the delivery of regulatory obligations.” 

As a high integrity Environmental Market Operator, EnTrade is delivering verified nature based projects to approved standards, ensuring projects deliver robustly assured outcomes. EnTrade supports the government’s commitment in the policy paper to continue to develop high-integrity standards for nature markets with the British Standards Institution. 

What does this mean for the Somerset Catchment Market? 

The government has made it clear that any reforms will be expected to work alongside private initiatives such as the Somerset Catchment Market, and says: ”We expect delivery bodies to work with private providers and land managers wherever possible to ensure competition and innovation in securing impactful and good value for money interventions, including necessary land use and land management changes.” 

The Somerset Catchment Market is already developing a pipeline of new wetlands and woodlands to provide nutrient mitigation to meet current demand from housing development. Developers can Register with EnTrade now for Phosphorus Credits for developments in Somerset due to commence in 2025. 

Planning Reform and legislative changes will take time. The current high demand for nutrient mitigation makes the Somerset Catchment Market an attractive opportunity for farmers and other landowners to secure competitive price for their nature-based projects over the next few years and for developers to secure the Credits they need to meet their obligations and start building in 2025. 

These proposals for planning reform are not expected to have any substantive impact on the implementation of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). 

Amy Coulthard, Market Development Director, EnTrade said: 

“We are working with landholders across our markets, including the Bristol Avon Catchment Market, to ensure there is a strong supply of Biodiversity Units from a range of different Project types such as wood pasture, wildflower meadows and hedgerows. We will be opening the third round for developers to bid for Biodiversity Units in early January.” 

EnTrade is enabling developers to get building and meet their environmental obligations now. Developers buying Biodiversity Units or Nutrient Credits through the markets fund projects that deliver against local nature recovery strategies including the recently published West of England Local Nature Recovery Strategy. 

To find out more about EnTrade’s other markets visit the EnTrade website

For media enquiries, please contact: 

Kevin Biggs: 07917 651205 communications@entrade.co.uk 

Notes to Editors 

EnTrade is a world-leading solution to the growing recognition that there is a finance gap to deliver governments’ commitments to restore nature. EnTrade has learned the lessons from the Voluntary Carbon Market to design a high integrity market-based solution that is transparent and science-based and enables fair and efficient trading between landholders and businesses. 

The Somerset Catchment Market is an environmental services market that aims to accelerate the delivery of nature-based projects such as the creation of new woodlands and wetlands across Somerset. For more information visit https://www.somersetcatchmentmarket.uk 

Environmental markets operated by EnTrade are overseen by an Environmental Markets Board. For more information visit https://www.environmentalmarketsboard.org.uk  

The Somerset Catchment Market was developed through a collaboration that included: 

• EnTrade; https://www.entrade.co.uk/ 
• the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute at the University of Exeter; https://www.exeter.ac.uk/research/leep/ 
• Wheatley Young Partners; https://wheatleyyoung.partners/ 

The Bristol Avon Catchment Market is a world-leading approach to nature recovery that: 

• delivers verified environmental outcomes, 
• secures a good deal for landholders with nature-based projects, and 
• ensures value-for-money for ethical buyers of environmental services. 

For more information visit: www.bristolavoncatchmentmarket.uk 

The West of England Nature Recovery Strategy is available via the West of England Combined Authority: 

The Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Toolkit - West of England Combined Authority 

EnTrade is part of the YTL Group UK – which includes YTL Developments, currently developing Brabazon new neighbourhood on the former Filton Airfield in north Bristol, the Brabazon Hangars, also at Filton, which will be turned into a live music and entertainment venue, YTL Construction, Wessex Water, GENeco, Wessex Searches, water2Business and Turnbull.