Jon Hawkins - Surrey Hills Photography
Biodiversity Net Gain
Land management solutions that deliver for nature
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a new approach to ensure future residential and commercial development contributes towards nature’s recovery. Developers must ensure the land they use is left in a better condition for wildlife than before work started. If it isn’t, new habitats must be created offsite.
Many planning authorities already require BNG, but from 12th February 2024, it will be mandatory across England.
As part of the planning process and before a development begins, the biodiversity of the proposed site must be assessed and the impact of the development on it calculated, using the DEFRA metric*.
Planning applications which do not deliver a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity onsite will be rejected unless they are able to achieve this through the creation of new habitats offsite.
At NWT we have been working hard to ensure BNG truly delivers for nature, in addition to existing environmental protection in the planning system. The priority is always to avoid harming habitats.
The Environment Act says habitats created offsite need to be maintained for only 30 years. At NWT we believe they should be maintained and protected forever.
We want to see BNG regulation supporting nature’s recovery.
It cannot be just a compensation scheme for economic development, where the environment and local communities lose out.
We have over 50 years’ experience of creating, maintaining and protecting precious sites for nature, so we are perfectly placed to deliver BNG. Therefore, we have established our own habitat bank, using BNG to create amazing habitats which we can protect for generations to come.
NWT is offering an end-to-end service that begins prior to development, advising on ways to minimise environmental impacts on-site, through to creating off-site habitat banks. This will enable NWT to provide biodiversity credits to developers, to help support the creation or expansion of nature reserves and new places for wildlife.
Nature’s recovery is at the heart of our work, so we will only work on projects where we believe they will truly benefit nature.
What is NWT offering?
Bat surveyor. Image by: Tom Marshall.
EcoNorth Nature Consultancy
NWT has an ecology consultancy, EcoNorth, which provides environmental services while ensuring the best outcomes for nature associated with development. These services include:
- Biodiversity Net Gain using the DEFRA metric
- Ecological Appraisals and Impact Assessments
- Habitat management, improvement and creation plans
- Advice on biodiversity offsets and habitat banking
- Protected Species surveys
- Professional consultancy services
West Forest.
NWT Habitat Bank
NWT’s Habitat Bank provides offsite biodiversity units to Local Planning Authorities and developers who are looking to fulfil their BNG obligations and go above and beyond for nature.
Our first habitat bank, Earsdon West Forest, is located in Northumberland and will provide biodiversity credits to developers in 2024 through our management, restoration and enhancement of these natural habitats.
It is close to our existing nature reserves, creating more connected landscapes across our nature recovery network.
Sites will be managed by NWT not just for the 30-year mandatory period, but forever, leaving a real legacy for wildlife.
All income generated from BNG will be fully reinvested into the development and management of habitat banks across Northumberland, North Tyneside and Newcastle, meaning all BNG sales will be truly supporting nature’s recovery.
Contact us for more information at bng@northwt.org.uk
* The DEFRA metric is a way of assigning a numerical value by way of habitat units to the biodiversity on a site. Post-development, the site must have 10% more units than pre-development. If it does not, the developer needs to create those units offsite, purchase biodiversity units from a habitat bank, or through the statutory credit scheme.