Meet the Team: Jennie Stafford
We are excited to introduce you to the members of staff who work endlessly behind the scenes at Natural Capital Advisory to help us deliver high quality services to our clients.
This month’s team highlight is Jennie Stafford. Jennie is Head of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and Farmland Biodiversity Advisor for Northern England and joined Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust in February 2016.
Jennie has been instrumental in delivering landscape scale habitat assessments to baseline biodiversity. With the introduction of mandatory BNG, Jennie became head of BNG and has the responsibility of dealing with enquiries and oversees all BNG baseline assessments and Habitat Management and Monitoring Plans produced by members of the Advisory Team in England and Wales.
Current project
This autumn and winter Jennie will be facilitating a series of workshops for farmers within the Swaledale and Wensleydale Environmental Farmers (SWEF) group. She will also be piloting the first farm plans for the new EFG North York Moors area where Membership will be opening in 2026. Jennie will also be advising our Peakland Environmental Farmers (PEF) on their catchment conservation plan.
In the spring, Jennie will be back out on farms and estates conducting baseline surveys for land owners.
What Makes Jennie Smile at Work
“Every enquiry is different, every estate is different, every farm is different, every habitat is different. Giving an area of land a purpose by making it more sustainable for wildlife, water and climate change is a challenge but on that the Advisory Team thrives on. Right habitat in the right place with the right management advice is always our aim”
Jennie beyond the 9 to 5
When Jennie isn’t at work, she enjoys spending time on the family farm with her husband, young son, and two Jack Russell terriers. She’s always planning and researching her next adventure, even if it’s just a dream for now. A yearly highlight is chasing her son down a mountain on skis, so if you catch Jennie between January and March, be ready for enthusiastic snow reports from the Alps!
We are fortunate to have Jennie as part of the team, and we look forward to you getting to know her better.
If you are interested in a BNG baseline assessment or Habitat Management Plan do get in touch with Jennie at nca@gwct.org.uk.