Nature Recovery

The Beaver Ledger: Can Private Capital Underwrite Devon's River Restoration?

Devon's beaver trial is expanding, and private finance is being courted through biodiversity net gain credits and flood-risk bonds. The contracts are complex, the metrics are awkward, and the risk of 'beaver banking' distorting conservation priorities is real.

Nov 8, 2026

Ten Per Cent, Thirty Years: Auditing Biodiversity Net Gain in the South West

Two and a half years after Biodiversity Net Gain became mandatory for major developments in England, the South West has become the country's busiest laboratory for habitat banks and off-site credits. The question for Devon, Somerset and Dorset is whether the arithmetic on paper is turning into hedges, scrapes and culm grassland on the ground.

Nov 8, 2026