Current projects
Biodiversity
ROADMAP GOAL
Places that maximise biodiversity
Purpose
To help developers with guidance, information and tools to implement BNG successfully and seamlessly as part of designing and planning sites.
We will work with partners who represent the many facets of biodiversity net gain, to help provide the necessary support and overcome barriers.
Context
The Government has introduced biodiversity net gain (BNG) as a condition to get planning permission for new development in England.
You must demonstrate that your development increases biodiversity by at least 10%.
BNG became mandatory for large sites on 12 February 2024, and 2 April 2024 for small sites. All planning applications submitted will now need to comply with BNG unless exempt.
The objective of BNG is to provide new homes for the people who need them while protecting and improving nature at the same time.
Find out more about the benefits of BNG.
Planned projects and output
- The BNG Implementation Board has been established. The Implementation Board is a cross-sector collaboration with industry leaders, key stakeholders, and relevant government bodies to successfully implement Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) at scale. The board aims to agree on what successful implementation will look like and work to facilitate this through mechanisms to identify and monitor the key issues for government and the sector to address.
- Create and contribute to guidance and training. Working with Defra, Natural England and the Planning Advisory Service to ensure developers have simple and quick guidance on what they need to do to comply successfully.
- Identify and address enablers and barriers. Undertake a call for evidence to understand the barriers and enablers that need to be addressed for successful implementation. Maintain a prioritised log of issues and work with partners to resolve them.
- Develop and collate good practice case studies.
- In collaboration with Natural England, provide a forum for the Markets Advisory Group on biodiversity units, and support the implementation of the recommendations from the exercise.
- Create a community of practice.
Timescales
BNG represents a significant change to the planning process and its impact will be felt across the sector. The activity of the Hub will be determined by liaising with stakeholders to help identify and address issues that they face. The projects and outputs shown below only address known issues, and we will add to this as the Hub knowledge base develops; this will include actions set by the BNG Implementation Board.
Outputs
This will be periodically updated, if you have any feedback, please get in touch.
View the Biodiversity Unit Finder
Find details of available units near your site
View the Biodiversity offsets checklist
This checklist helps with the assessment of biodiversity offsets.
View guidance on Biodiversity Net Gain.
Find out how to get ready for the introduction of BNG in February 2024
Participants
The work will be overseen by an industry Community of Practice Group, comprising specialists from the multiple sectors, including designers, developers, planners and policy makers. Smaller working groups are established to address specific issues. For example, exploring consistency in baseline surveys and producing guidance, such as the Good Practice Guidance Group, which is looking to produce guidance on the process of implementing BNG onsite.
Members of the Community of Practice group
Members of the hub participate in liaison groups and the BNG Community of Practice Group to resolve challenges and share their knowledge. Members can access the BNG members area below.