Tech tools are available to support market participants at every stage of their BNG journey. Whether you are a developer looking to instantly purchase an optimised package of off-site Biodiversity Units via an online digital exchange; a supplier seeking to baseline and monitor a habitat site; or a local authority assessing the quality of a metric file submitted as part of the planning process, digital tools can help to mitigate the time, cost and effort associated with these tasks.
To assist members, the Nature Tech Implementation Group has pulled together a snapshot of the current market. Andrew Hicks, CEO of BNGx.com, has led this work, providing a clear and concise overview of the available tech solutions and the challenges they are designed to address.
A few caveats before you dive into the blog:
• The market is evolving rapidly, so this should be considered a “moment in time” reference list.
• Providers were invited to submit entries, so this may not be exhaustive.
• The list is provided for reference rather than endorsement. The Hub is not an accreditation body, and members are encouraged to carry out their own investigations to determine whether these solutions are right for them.
Our thanks go to Andrew, the Nature Tech Implementation Group, and all the providers who shared their information.
Nature Tech Providers: The Challenge and The Solution:
Joe’s Blooms (“JB”)
https://www.joesblooms.com/
The Challenge: Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Compliance
Developers face numerous challenges in meeting the requirements of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation, especially with the lack of ecologists to deal with small sites. These challenges include uncertainty about how to use the metric sheet to accurately measure biodiversity outcomes, difficulties in identifying and mapping suitable habitats, and the administrative burden of preparing detailed documentation to demonstrate compliance.
The Solution: JB’s digital baselining and impact assessment tool
“Joe’s Blooms offers a straightforward, tech-driven solution that simplifies the BNG process for developers. Our end-to-end digital platform makes it easy for the "competent person" to map existing habitats and assess the impact of planned developments, helping developers achieve the necessary biodiversity uplift either on-site or off-site. Joe’s Blooms also automates much of the process, allowing for fast and accurate completion of required reports, such as BNG metrics and biodiversity gain plans.”
BNGx
https://bngx.com/
The Challenge: Buying and Selling Off-site Units
It’s not easy for developers to find the optimal package of off-site units for their development site. They need to find the right number and type of units, as close by to their development site as possible, at all times adhering to the trading rules embedded within the metric and, of course, all for the best price. And even if they do find the ideal package of units, they still need to document, execute, and process the transaction and, last but not least, transfer the enhancement data they have purchased out of the seller’s metric into the offsite tabs of their statutory metric.
The Solution: The BNGx online marketplace
“BNGx provides the developer with a safe, quick, and easy way of buying off-site units. The developer just has to upload their metric to BNGx’s online marketplace, and BNGx will instantly solve for an optimal package of units for that development site from their broad and deep data lake of supply. And if the developer would like to purchase the unit package, they can do so there and then. BNGx will instantly document, execute, and process the purchase, including updating the offsite tabs of the developer's metric file, allowing them to get on with their planning application.”
BNGAI™
https://www.aidash.com/
The Challenge: Creating and Reviewing BNG Plans
For developers and local authorities, producing and validating biodiversity net gain (BNG) plans is complex, slow, and costly. Developers must baseline biodiversity on their site, classify every habitat type correctly, and run impact scenarios—often relying on fragmented survey data and manual GIS work. LPAs, on the other hand, need to ensure these plans are accurate, metric-compliant, and enforceable in the long term, but lack the capacity and ecological resource to scrutinise every application. The result is a time-consuming and error-prone process, delaying development and undermining confidence in BNG delivery.
The Solution: An End-to-End BNG Platform
“BNGAI™ offers a fully integrated platform that streamlines every stage of BNG planning and review. Using satellite imagery and AI, it rapidly generates accurate biodiversity baselines, auto-classifies habitats, and enables developers to model and compare BNG scenarios in days, not months. Plans can be duplicated for scenario testing, amended to identify the best possible outcome, and submitted directly with Defra-compliant metrics. LPAs benefit from a consistent data format, full transparency into changes, and the ability to validate metrics against baseline evidence—making it easier to approve, track, and enforce biodiversity plans at scale.”
Linckia
Linckia.co.uk
The Challenge: BNG data capture and management
Capturing accurate and consistent ecology data for a BNG submission is complex and visualising that data over the course of its lifecycle within the BNG metric parameters is essential. Most ecologists are trained in UKHab and not BNG, as such, accurately capturing habitat and ensuring it’s the right BNG classification, and that the data is spatially accurate is fundamental to ensuring habitat value is maximised at the point of baseline. Post development and monitoring brings a range of additional complexities, requiring attention to detail in both attribution and spatial accuracy.
The Solution: A geospatial replication of the BNG Metric
“Linckia offers the only open market solution to have faithfully replicated the metric in a geospatial platform from baseline to monitoring. We are an ESRI Silver Partner, OS reseller and UKHab official reseller. We have an England wide dataset to aid pre-mapping and a conversion from UKHab to BNG in the software that creates a frictionless conversion between the classification systems, ensuring ecological detail and value is maximised. From baseline, to post development, through to monitoring, our use of ESRI technology, the world leader of geospatial technology ensures a premium experience in data capture and accuracy. Real time analytics throughout the 30-year life of a BNG site, within the platform ensures no time is required in the metric spreadsheet, except for the point of submission, saving hours in conversion of paper maps or other digital mediums to the metric input and analysis. Our customers include utility providers, non-profits, consultancies, local authorities, and universities, looking for enterprise support on their BNG or Net Gain journeys.”
Nature Advisory Service
NatureAdvisoryServices.com
The Challenge: Beyond BNG - Designing and Demonstrating Wider Environmental Enhancements
Achieving BNG often comes with a range of environmental co-benefits such as enhanced carbon storage, flood regulation, water quality, recreational opportunities including attached health benefits etc. But these natural capital co-benefits usually remain hidden – a missed opportunity to showcase the wider added value BNG projects provide.
The Solution: The free NATURE Tool
“Nature Advisory Services (NAS), together with 50 industry partners, has developed the NATURE Tool – a Biodiversity Metric-style natural capital impact assessment tool designed to be used alongside BNG. It is completely free to use and can assess the impact of your development design/BNG project on up to 17 ecosystem services plus physical and mental health benefits. The NATURE Tool can be downloaded at NATURE-Tool.com. NAS is continuing its development and is also providing a range of related services, including NATURE Tool assessments, advice on natural capital and nature-based solutions optimisation, BNG ‘stackable’ nature markets such as nutrient neutrality, nature market/finance strategies, business cases, natural capital opportunity mapping etc.”
Coreo - The UKHab / BNG Survey
https://coreo.io/ukhab/
The Challenge: Collecting and managing compliant UKHab / BNG data
UKHab surveys and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessments are often complex, slow, and prone to data inaccuracy and costly errors when completed on paper. Ecologists waste valuable time transcribing data from field notes to GIS software. Manually inputting data into metric and condition assessment spreadsheets is also time consuming and introduces the potential for further errors. The result? Inefficient workflows, duplicated effort, and missed opportunities to deliver quality results and value to clients quickly and with confidence.
The Solution: The UKHab & BNG Platform
“The Coreo UKHab & BNG Platform transforms this process into one seamless, professional workflow. Built with the authors of UKHab, it combines advanced GIS mapping, built-in habitat codes and species lists, automated condition assessments, and direct export to the statutory BNG metric tool - all in a single, intuitive platform. With offline functionality, precise mapping tools, and ready-made outputs for clients and stakeholders, clients state that Coreo doubles efficiency while boosting accuracy and compliance.”
PSSLive - Built for Biodiversity
https://pssltd.co.uk/home
The Challenge: Capture & Collation of Survey Results
• The timely requirement to replicate and update condition assessments depending on the range of assets within the site, then further time manually calculating baseline units for assets and site.
• Storing and accessing data in a way that makes it easier to compare and interrogate the information recorded.
• The issue of trying to store multiple surveys across multiple sites in a way that makes it accessible and manageable to multiple users.
The Solution: PSSLive+ Biodiversity module
• “PSSLive+ provides a centralised biodiversity survey solution that has the ability to store a large number of surveys across a wide range of geographically diverse areas.
• Pre-populated condition assessments and criteria’s based on the type of asset using DEFRA’s guidelines being inspected along with automated unit calculations for asset and site enable easy baseline and subsequent survey comparison.
• Filter and drill down to the specific site required to see full survey history and site progress. All from a platform that allows multiple users for data entry and collaborative working.
• Use as a standalone module or as part of the PSSLive+ solution”
CSX BNG Services
www.csxcarbon.com
The Challenge – Understanding BNG opportunities and obligations within a 30 year timeframe
Being a 30 year commitment BNG requires a thorough assessment of opportunities and obligations, whether a supplier or buyer of units, with a long-term strategic plan and partner to ensure cost effective and reliable delivery of BNG efficiently.
The Solution – CSX BNG Services & non- subjective audit trail
“CSX are a ‘full service’ BNG provider. Helping landowners develop, secure and deliver their habitat banks, and developers cost effectively understand their BNG needs, deliver on-site obligations with efficient monitoring and when needed secure the off-site BNG units from close at hand habitat banks. CSX also use high resolution drone imagery to produce digital twin records of every site, enabling concerns over subjectivity in monitoring to be mitigated in the 30-year audit requirements for BNG.”
Mycelia by Verna
https://verna.earth/mycelia
The Challenge - Validating, assessing, monitoring, and reporting BNG data
Getting the most out of Biodiversity Net Gain means gathering, analysing, and keeping track of complex data. For every project, this challenge spans many individuals – and decades of implementation, monitoring, and reporting.
The Solution: Mycelia – the end-to-end tool for BNG data
“Mycelia solves the data challenges of Biodiversity Net Gain. It’s used by over 100 organisations to manage every aspect of BNG, inside and outside the planning system. Mycelia provides a shared source of truth over the lifetime of a project – all the way from plan to proof – with tailored tools for checking, understanding, and monitoring delivery against Biodiversity Metrics.”