Biodiversity Net Gain
What is Biodiversity Net Gain?
The term “biodiversity” comes from the term Biological Diversity and refers to the variety of living organisms that can be found in an area of land. This can include animals, plants, insects, bacteria and fungi. The Biodiversity Net Gain initiative is designed to be a method of contributing to the recovery of nature, whilst still developing the land. It came about following the release of the State of Nature report which suggested that there has been a 13% decline in the average wildlife throughout the UK, since the 1970s. It is therefore designed to ensure that the habitat for wildlife is left in a better state than it was before development.
The Biodiversity Net Gain program is currently in its consultation stages and is stated to be mandatory for any new planning applications, except small sites, from January 2024 onwards. Once this comes into place, all planning permissions granted in England will be required to deliver a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain, under the Environment Act 2021. It is then expected to become mandatory for small sites from April 2024.
This means that anybody looking to develop a site or submit a planning application around these times, will need to be aware of this requirement and ensure that they cater for it in their planning application. To be compliant with Biodiversity Net Gain, property developers must try to avoid any loss of habitat on land that they plan to develop. If this is not possible, developers must attempt to create new habitat either on the site they are developing or in an alternative location off site. If a property developer cannot create a new habitat, they will have the option to buy statutory credits from the government. However, they must provide evidence in order to use this option and it must be a last resort.
In order to assess how a development will change the biodiversity value of the site, a biodiversity assessment must be conducted. ProHort’s team of ecologists can conduct a full biodiversity assessment, using the biodiversity metric to identify the impact that a development will have on the biodiversity value and make recommendations that will help to achieve a biodiversity net gain.
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