Biodiversity net gain

Q&A

biodiversity net gain

The Environment Bill introduces a mandatory ‘biodiversity net gain’ requirement for developments in England, which is likely to be in force by Summer 2023, but there still remains some uncertainty as to what this means for landowners and developers. Victoria Longmore, partner in Lodders’ Real Estate team and planning specialist, answers some questions our expert team is frequently asked about biodiversity.

What is biodiversity net gain?

Biodiversity net gain is an approach that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than before development – delivering improvements and avoiding and mitigating harm to the environment as far as possible.

What does the Environment Bill say about biodiversity net gain?

The Environment Bill introduces a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain requirement for developments in England. The Bill sets out a ‘mitigation hierarchy’, which encourages developers to first seek to avoid harm by mitigating and enhancing biodiversity measures on site. If this cannot be done either in full or in part, the developer will need to aim to secure local compensatory habitat creation by purchasing biodiversity units from third parties. As a third and final option, the developer must purchase statutory credits to fund cost effective habitat creation projects according to local and national conservation and natural capital priorities.

How do you measure biodiversity gains and losses?

These can be measured using the updated Defra Biodiversity Metric 3.0 – a spreadsheetbased tool which contains data acquired through ecological assessments. Amongst the measures, the tool considers habitat type, condition, and species present, and quantifies these into biodiversity units.

How does a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain work in practice?

Once the baseline biodiversity units have been calculated, the mandatory requirement of 10% net gain is added, indicating the amount of biodiversity units the scheme should yield overall. However, the 10% should not be seen as a cap on biodiversity net gain; developers can aim to exceed this figure.

Contact Victoria Longmore T: 01789 206119 E: victoria.longmore@lodders.co.uk