Landowners and farmers have visited a pioneering Norfolk nature project aiming to capitalising on private investments in biodiversity. 

Members of the Norfolk branch of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) toured the Wendling Beck Project near Dereham - a 2000-acre habitat creation and nature restoration scheme seeking to reconnect wildlife on a landscape scale.

It is also a national pilot for a funding model under new Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) rules which require housing and industrial developers to replace any lost nature habitats - plus a net gain of at least 10pc - either by recreating them on site, or by paying nearby landowners to offset them.

The Wendling Beck Project was developed in collaboration with farmers, local authorities, environmental bodies and the private sector, aiming to transform the land for environmental gain, while also building long-term financial resilience. 

Phase one has already seen 250 acres of degraded arable land become a patchwork of heath, meadows, scrub and woodland creation.

Historic maps are being used to help reimagine the current land use, to deliver the restoration of heathland, parkland, species-rich meadows, lowland fen, wet woodland and rare chalk streams.

The visit formed part of the CLA’s Norfolk branch AGM. CLA East's acting regional director Mark Riches said: "Every year we aim to offer our members a chance to visit unique rural businesses.

"The Wendling Beck Project certainly falls into that category and it has been fascinating to see how the changes in this land use are progressing."