National Grid has appointed Escrick Park Estate to support the delivery of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for Yorkshire GREEN, helping to kick-start Escrick Park’s Skipwith Connected initiative through the purchase of approximately 300 biodiversity units.

The estate, which is located between York and Selby, has an excellent track record of habitat management.

Skipwith Connected is a landscape-scale nature recovery project, approximately 12 miles from the Yorkshire GREEN project. It aims to reconnect nationally and internationally designated wildlife habitats, with plans focused on habitat restoration, stronger ecological connections and long-term stewardship.

The creation of 160 hectares of new habitats will add to the existing Skipwith Common SSSI, together creating just over 420 hectares of species-rich habitat. As part of this process, public access will be respected and local communities will be engaged.

Over the past 250 years, an estimated 97% of northern lowland heath in the Vale of York has disappeared, making Skipwith Common one of the last strongholds of this internationally important habitat.

Escrick Park is planning to restore a mix of habitats, including lowland fen, ponds, wet and dry grassland, reedbeds, wet woodland, scrub and heathland, with a habitat bank of over 1,000 units available.

These habitats will be legally secured through a conservation covenant with a requirement for management and monitoring for a minimum of 30 years. Through minimal interventions and natural water movement, the project will safeguard the designated sites, reduce pressures of intensive farming and create new opportunities for species to expand and flourish.

Mark Hewitt, Conservation Lead at Escrick Park Estate, said: “We are extremely excited to have partnered with National Grid to deliver the offsite BNG on the project. Restoring and reconnecting habitats at a landscape scale around Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve will help protect this precious site for generations to come.

“Escrick Park Estate will connect more than 450 hectares of habitat, while respecting public access and engaging with local communities through education and volunteering. We are committed to ensuring that this landscape remains a place for people to connect with nature for generations to come,” he said.

Yorkshire GREEN will provide 10% BNG with the enhancements delivered through partnership with Escrick Park and on-site BNG delivery. In line with National Grid’s approach, where it is possible and there are no restrictions, habitat will be created and enhanced around Overton and Monk Fryston substations. The Yorkshire GREEN project will implement measures such as:

Avoiding, reducing and mitigating biodiversity and wider environmental impacts, as far as possible
Strengthening hedgerows with a greater diversity of native species to improve habitat connectivity
Planting trees, scrub and wildflower meadow areas on former agricultural land, and creating a new aquatic habitat
Protecting retained trees and hedgerows through root protection zones, and replacing any unavoidable canopy loss

Bo Li, Senior Project Manager, said: “Yorkshire GREEN shows how essential energy infrastructure can do more than connect clean power, it can drive major investment in nature recovery, restoring connected habitats and securing lasting benefits for biodiversity and local communities.

“Through our partnership with Escrick Park Estate, we are helping to restore connected habitats at scale and secure long-term biodiversity benefits alongside this critical network upgrade.”