Oxfordshire Nature Recovery Fund (ONReF)
Project Summary
- Project Value: £6-11 million
- Timescale: various
- Status: Investment Ready
The Oxfordshire Nature Recovery Fund (ONReF) provides early-stage funding for natural capital projects that deliver biodiversity gains and financial returns by:
- Creating habitat banks to meet mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) targets.
- Supporting revenue-generating nature-based carbon sequestration projects, such as forestry or soil-based carbon initiatives, which are also capable of delivering a biodiversity uplift.
- Funding Nature-based Flood Mitigation (NFM) projects such as berms, dykes and other flood barriers.
Outcomes
- The Nature-based Flood Mitigation (NFM) measures will restore flood-plain wetlands, enabling more water to be held within the landscape and reducing the risk of surge flooding to Oxfordshire's communities
- Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and carbon sequestration projects will increase the supply of carbon/biodiversity units available to offset the negative environmental impacts of infrastructure projects
- Harmful emissions are likely to be reduced as intensive, industrialised agriculture gives way to a lower-carbon, more nature-friendly model
- ONReF will stimulate growth and maturation in the new nature capital markets - such as NFM, carbon sequestration and BNG - by harnessing private sector financing to support nature recovery
Other information
Organisation
ONReF is led by the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment – a charity which funds local environmental projects run by community groups.
Total Cost
The total cost is estimated at between £6m and £11m.
Remaining
This is yet to be confirmed.
ROI
The return on investment is expected to be 5% per year with the potential for higher returns in the longer term as nature capital markets become more established.
Model
Running costs are estimated at around 2% of the capital fund value.
Financing
The project will be funded by debt and/or bond finance.
Investment Type
Investment will be secured through a blended financial model.
Timings
Nature outcomes are likely to be realised after five years, and a habitat bank could expect to recover costs within three years of achieving registered status.
Revenue Model
BNG units could generate revenue by being sold offsite.
Land Ownership
Landowners will retain full ownership and control over their land.
Supporting Information
Individual projects may require planning permission, and the offsite BNG unit market will be dependent on statutory and regulatory frameworks, robust planning/building pipelines and a healthy local BNG market.