Help get forest gardens into DEFRA's biodiversity model! - consultation response date 27th Sept (see notes)

Copied from an email from Chris Warburton-Brown (the permaculture association)

Feel free to use this text or make up your own :)

Good afternoon,

As promised in the post-Convergence email I sent you last week, here is a request to respond to DEFRA's consultation on its biodiversity metric. The great advantage of getting forest gardens into the metric is that they will then qualify for government grant funding to cover initial planting costs and an annual grant for maintenance. This would be a massive boost to the creation of new forest gardens across the UK. It would also greatly raise their profile at DEFRA and with developers and local authorities.

You can find the consultation here: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/defra-net-gain-consultation-team/technicalconsultation_biodiversitymetric/

It will take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

The closing date for responses is 27th September.

This work has been led by Chris Wilmoth, a big thank you to him for his amazing effort. You can find the detailed report he has written to support his submission attached to this email.

Below are the responses we suggest you use to the consultation questions (if you have time, please rewrite these into your own words).

Q5: Don't know

Q6: The Environment Bank state that "There is much evidence now that on-site delivery of BNG has minimal value to biodiversity because they will always be small, fragmented areas and... the residents’ association usually manicures them back to amenity grassland or similar." (https://environmentbank.com/blog/posts/top-12-questions-planners-ask-about-bng-in-relation-to-planning-applications).

We propose that Underplanted Orchards should be added to the Metric as a species enhanced version of a Traditional Orchard, and that they will rectify the issues experienced with previous on-site schemes. Underplanted Orchards (or Forest Gardens as they otherwise are known) can contain between 100 and 500 plant species in just 2 acres and employ symbiotic relationships to reduce inputs, whilst producing nuts, fruits, salads, seasonings, vegetables, sap, fibre, dyes, natural medicine and grains. The only input they need once established is a small amount of human labour. Through the combination of food, low time commitment and low skill level incentives, residents will more easily be engaged in their proper management, rather than their destruction through manicuring. The longevity of on-site schemes could in turn be improved. On-site Underplanted Orchards can also reduce food miles and resident’s food bills and increase general health where residents make use of the nutrient rich food that is made freely available to them. In addition, residents who get directly involved in the maintenance of the green space benefit from access to green spaces, one of the core aims of Biodiversity Net Gain. We think that providing guidance on how an Underplanted Orchards habitat could typically be achieved on-site would be helpful to developers seeking a long term habitat option that incentivises residents to maintain them. When providing guidance to developers on the establishment of Underplanted Orchards on-site, we suggest that they be recommended to contract out to a practitioner who can assist in the design phase of the habitat creation/enhancement and who can also train and engage residents in the Orchard's maintenance. https://www.agroforestry.co.uk/consultancy-network/ contains a list of practitioners. The full case for underplanted orchards has been set out in the "Biodiversity Metric 3.1 Technical Consultation Response - Underplanted Orchards as an Additional Habitat" that Chris Wilmoth has submitted in his response to this consultation.

Q7: We suggest one or more small underplanted orchards (forest gardens) are included as case studies.

Q8: Don't know

Q9: Leave blank

Q10: Do not know

Q11: Other

Q11b: We have a practical suggestion on how species data can be used to improve the design of habitat creation. Where the habitat (an Underplanted Orchard) falls within the successional stages between an orchard and a forest and thus can be considered an enhancement of a Traditional Orchard but at the same time Habitat Creation within the Broad Habitat of Woodland and Forest. Where the metric has made consideration for intermediary stages in condition, we ask that considerations be made for habitats that fall between Broad Habitats and which fall outside of the habitats currently listed. It being a mixture between a Traditional Orchard and a Woodland.

Q12: Answer as you see fit