Land transaction and development

Biodiversity net gain

Achieve the mandatory 10% net gain target for new developments.

We help developers meet the mandatory 10% biodiversity net gain target as required by the Environment Act by baselining your current land and working with you to develop a plan to achieve a net gain.

Biodiversity net gain (BGN) is an approach to development, and/or land management, that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was beforehand.

The Environment Act 2021 makes it mandatory for any new development to deliver a 10% net gain on the biodiversity of its aquatic and terrestrial environments and schemes will need to be monitored for 30 years.

Experience

Our experienced advisors will liaise with county ecologists and planning authorities to shape commercially viable solutions that balance business and biodiversity needs.

Ensure compliance

We will map out a management, monitoring, and reporting programme to ensure compliance across the required 30-year period.

Independent

We can also act as an independent broker, ensuring offsite spaces provide value for money and the potential to create a sustainable habitat.

Our experts will assess your site to understand the current condition. We will then provide a plan to secure a net gain to enhance the areas that are not disturbed by development and create off-site net gain if needed.

Each development will need to create a BNG plan for local authority approval including:

Current habitat conditions, based on ecological assessments
Strategies for increasing biodiversity by at least 10%
Methods of measuring and maintaining improvements for 30 years

BNG is determined using Defra’s biodiversity metric, a habitat-based approach that evaluates an area’s value to wildlife.

Our ecologists will work with you before the submission of your planning application to build in biodiversity goals from the outset.

We will conduct a range of assessments to gauge your site’s overall condition taking into consideration:

Size – How much area does the habitat cover?
Condition – Is the habitat poor, moderate, or good?
Distinctiveness – Is the habitat ecologically important in any way?
Strategic significance – Is the habitat a local priority or earmarked for enhancement?

Using the results, we will calculate the site’s biodiversity unit value before development and its projected value post-project, helping you plan your route to 10% BNG.

Solution options

We will produce an ecological management plan – incorporating onsite, offsite, or credit strategies – that deliver 10% net gain within the limitations of your site. These could include:

Onsite solutions – Ideally, you will generate your 10% net gain by enhancing existing habitats or creating new ones within your site’s red line boundary. This might involve landscaping, planting trees, or sowing grass seed or wildflowers.
Offsite solutions – If your site allows minimal or no biodiversity net gain opportunities onsite, you’ll need to explore remote alternatives. This involves paying to establish or upgrade habitats elsewhere in the local area. Example projects include habitat banks, rain gardens, or grasslands maintained by public or private landowners within the borough. Land used to deliver offsite biodiversity net gain programmes will need to be secured for a minimum of 30 years.
Statutory biodiversity credits – This ‘exchange system’ lets you purchase biodiversity credits that can be used to deliver large-scale habitat projects when 10% biodiversity net gain can’t be achieved onsite. For example, a business might use credits to convert a farmer’s field into a wildflower meadow to meet biodiversity net gain targets on a nearby development. Similarly, developers who exceed biodiversity net gain requirements on one project could use excess credits to offset deficits on another.

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Our experts are on hand to provide tailored investigation, consultancy, response and remediation services to help you balance commercial objectives and environmental compliance.

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