Dr Robin McArthur, chair of the Joe's Blooms Advisory Board, discusses Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and what local authorities should do to prepare.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a new planning policy that holds the potential to change the face of nature recovery in England. The local government sector now has an opportunity to play a critical role in delivering it on a community level – saving plants and wildlife across the country.

Announced in 2021 as part of the Environment Act, BNG will require developers to demonstrate in their planning application how they intend to increase local biodiversity by 10% during the process of development. Applicable to large developments from January 2024 and small developments from April, this means that local planning authorities (LPAs) must begin to amass the tools and knowledge that will enable them to implement the law come the new year.

Before getting into how they can do this, however, it is worth looking at what this policy will do for local communities and why environmentalists are welcoming this move to support nature recovery.

There is mounting evidence that the world may be experiencing the sixth mass extinction, with species vanishing at an accelerating rate. The Living Planet Index (LPI) has concluded that, since 1970, there has been a 69% decrease in the population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish globally.

The UK’s own data is equally worrying – our most recent State of Nature report shows that UK species have declined by about 19% on average since 1970, with nearly one in six species now threatened with extinction.

While it may seem daunting to tackle this sharp plunge all at once, we can start with reversing nature decline in each of our communities, to see an impact across the country.

BNG is one such opportunity for LPAs to enhance the natural environment and promote the resurgence of plants and wildlife in our local communities. Recent research by Joe’s Blooms, whose advisory board I chair, shows that it will save up to 30,000 football pitches worth of habitat, and create an additional 17,000 football pitches of new habitat across England each year.

Nature recovery is a positive thing for our communities. Local areas will see biodiversity and wildlife boosted with more green space, improving residents’ health and well-being, and boosting long-term income opportunities through green investments that create more jobs.

With such a huge opportunity to secure the future of our natural environment, what can LPAs and councils do to prepare?

BNG requires developers to submit a Biodiversity Gain Plan (BGP) as part of their planning application. This plan should demonstrate how they have complied with the ‘mitigation hierarchy’: Developers must show that they are first avoiding and preventing any negative biodiversity impacts; then taking action to decrease the extent of any unavoidable impacts; and finally, compensating for any leftover impacts, preferably as close to the point of impact as possible. In cases where none of these work, developers can also ‘offset’ their biodiversity impact, by creating off-site habitats or (if not possible) purchasing biodiversity units. As a final resort, statutory credits can be purchased from the Government.

LPAs will be required to verify that this ‘mitigation hierarchy’ has been followed before they can approve planning applications. They must also verify that the plan includes an accurate ‘pre-development’ biodiversity value, in line with the Government’s biodiversity metric (guidelines used to calculate the number of ‘biodiversity units’ on a site – a proxy for the overall level of biodiversity). If the plan includes offsite biodiversity gains, authorities should ensure that the gains have been allocated, verified, and are of the correct value.

In short, local authorities play a critically important role in ensuring that any BGP meets the biodiversity gain objective – that is, increasing the biodiversity value of total habitat by at least 10%.

We know many LPAs are already implementing BNG on a voluntary basis, alongside local nature recovery strategies, to restore nature in their communities. With new requirements coming into play that will be a massive boost for nature recovery, digital solutions will be critical in helping authorities play their increased role.

Digital solutions will help developers create robust BGPs in line with these regulations, saving authorities from processing inaccurate or incomplete plans, and enabling authorities to build in tailored biodiversity requirements for local areas. They can also identify areas of high ecological importance, meaning that authorities can direct ecological resources to where it will have the most impact.

Historically, our planning and environmental policies have moved in different directions and limited each other’s success. With BNG, however, we now have an opportunity to untangle this knot. If we can help our local authorities and planners get this policy right, then we can build the homes we need and protect our environment together.