OAKBANK NEWS AND BLOG

The publication this month of a joint survey by Confor, Royal Forestry Society (RFS) and Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has put woodland owners squarely in the spotlight. Its findings make for interesting reading: almost half of the 204 respondents expect to be affected by the April 2026 changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) and nearly 60% say they are now less likely to plant new woodland as a result. Apparently, some h

We are delighted to announce the launch of The Oakbank Pod, a new series exploring the practical realities of modern land management and conservation across the UK. We will be bringing together farmers, gamekeepers, ecologists and other specialists to share their insights, real‑world experience and stories behind successful conservation projects. Episode 4 - All Things Waders - lapwing and redshank recovery in practice 👉 Our third episode is available to stream here, as well

On 15 April 2026, Defra published responses to two parallel Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) consultations and opened a third on an additional targeted exemption for brownfield residential development. Together, the responses confirm when major infrastructure projects will start drawing on the off-site biodiversity unit market, exempt around half of the smallest residential sites, and broaden the geography in which a land parcel can supply units to a development. What has been con

The UK Government has launched a joint consultation and call for evidence on modernising fertilisers legislation , led by Defra and supported by the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive. The consultation is now open and will run until 13th May 2026. What is the UK fertiliser consultation proposing? The proposals aim to repeal existing fertiliser product legislation (which covers the rules surrounding the supply of fertiliser) and replace it

The UK Government has published England’s Land Use Framework, aiming to balance multiple, competing demands on our finite land resources, support smarter land use decisions and accelerate environmental improvements by providing a "single, shared vision" and better data for planners, farmers and communities. It comes after years of calls for such a joined-up approach, notably from Henry Dimbleby, who in his 2021 National Food Strategy recommended a rural land use framework (th

Addressing deer pressure is a core concern for anyone managing woodlands and the government has just unveiled a 10-year plan to help. In England, land use change, introduction of non-native species and a lack of natural predators have contributed to increased deer impacts. Without action, excessive deer pressure prevents young trees from establishing, degrades habitats (for example, undergrowth habitat loss has contributed to over 90% increase in nightingale numbers since the

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds, announced in her speech at the NFU Conference the welcome return of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2026, with a dedicated budget of £50m. FETF 2026 will re-open for applications on 17th March and will be available to all eligible farmers, growers, forestry owners and contractors in England (those registered with the RPA with an Single Business Identifier (SBI) number.) 💡 This annou

Defra has unveiled new details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 scheme in England. Announced today at the NFU conference, the SFI 2026 offer will reopen with some significant changes, including more restricted options and a £100,000 payment cap on agreements. At the Oxford Farming Conference in January , Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds already signalled fewer, more targeted options, highlighting that 90% of SFI spending went on fewer than 40 of the 102 avai

This week, a new global report published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) examines the interdependencies between business and biodiversity. In a world that has to grapple with new ways of achieving economic growth, without further degrading nature, the assessment is that despite data quality and methodologies improving, global business remains too tangled in complexity to deliver meaningful nature-positive action