Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is due to become mandatory for all development projects from Autumn 2023, however the principle of no net less is already a requirement under most the National Planning Policy Framework. It is unlikely that most new projects would gain planning consent without consideration of Biodiversity Net Gain. Our team can support you to understand and plan for the impacts that BNG will have on your schemes.

Our team of ecologists are very experienced in undertaking calculation of BNG using the DEFRA and Warwickshire metrics, and routinely collect the information required for this process during our habitat assessments. We can support you to understand the full implications for your proposals at an early stage, and then work closely with project teams during the design phases to help maximise the biodiversity value of your proposals. Should it not be possible to achieve the required net gain targets under proposals, we can then advise and support our clients with the next steps, including negotiation with landowners or land brokers for biodiversity offsetting, as required.

Away from development, we are increasingly working with landowners keen to understand the biodiversity opportunities of their landholdings in line with the emerging Environment Act. We can undertake assessments of biodiversity baseline of our clients’ estates at both high level and detailed scale using the DEFRA metric, and from this can assist our clients with strategic planning of their landholdings. For example, we can help identify areas where greatest biodiversity uplift can be achieved, with the aim of providing biodiversity credits which can be used to offset developments under the emerging framework.  Through our wider land management and contracting experience, we are able to robustly model and budget long-term habitat management requirements.