August 12, 2024

Six months on from Biodiversity Net Gain

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation has been in effect for 6 months. For many stakeholders, including those with an obligation to comply, the concept of BNG and its implementation is new and complex. 

Conversely, the biodiversity duty has been in effect since Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act in 2006. Local authorities and other stakeholders have each taken different approaches, leading to a lack of synergy before mandatory BNG came into force. 

This has resulted in a fragmented and disconnected readiness since the announcement of BNG in the Environment Act 2021. Access to consistent habitat and biodiversity data is a fundamental obstacle and will be crucial for ensuring compliance over BNG’s 30-year implementation period to achieve the minimum 10% net gain. 

“BNG continues to present challenges to all involved, from ecologists collecting data and carrying out assessment via Local Planning Authority colleagues getting to grips with the new legislation, to habitat bank providers and landowners wrestling with a new regulatory regime. However, all continue to rise to the challenge, and I am pleased to be supporting a number of organisations across this spectrum, all who are working to deliver better outcomes for nature. While it may seem that BNG has started slowly, I know from experience that there is a huge amount of excellent work being carried out, and we will soon start to see the fruits of that work.” Dan Carpenter, Director of Digital Ecology 

Map Impact’s objective and accessible biodiversity dataset is starting to support a wide range of stakeholders as they get to grips with these new requirements and begin to understand the longer-term implications of BNG with regards to monitoring and compliance. This has given us insight into how the new law is landing and where ongoing concerns are being felt across the industry. 

We’ve summarised our view of the current state of play as we see it below:

  1. The revised ‘go live’ dates for BNG, along with the subsequent post-date modifications and additions to BNG policy, revealed that most participants in the process were not fully prepared. Many of them are taking the approach of “doing what we need to” just to meet the minimum compliance standards
  2. There has been no rush by developers to push new applications through the planning process. A change of government, coupled with sustained high interest rates and inflation, has led to a more depressed housing market over the last 18 months.
  3. BNG activity and demand seem to be driven by groups of landowners taking advantage of the opportunity to provide land for BNG credits, supporting an off-site credit market and nature restoration projects. The slow pace of BNG is hindering the response to this growing market.
  4. Local Authorities are hesitant about how to best fulfil their role as regulators and enforcement bodies. They are concerned about the lack of financial and physical resources to support the workflow for BNG planning, as well as for multiple concurrent nature protection and restoration work streams.
  5. There are ongoing structural changes in Local Authorities, including a growing number of unitary authorities. This trend has led to a focus on merging and integrating resources to form new entities, diverting attention from certain aspects of strategic planning.
  6. A recent assessment by the National Audit Office of the current BNG work coverage has highlighted the risk of any benefit being diminished or even eliminated due to inadequate means for ongoing monitoring of BNG performance over the 30-year lock-in period.
  7. National infrastructure projects will be affected by BNG requirements from next year. These projects will need a comprehensive view to assist in the identification process for more detailed on-site survey work. 

Map Impact’s BiodiversityView is currently unique as a landscape habitat perspective with assessed condition as opposed to an increasing number of site-specific solutions in the market. 

BiodiversityView’s key differentiators are already being realised, as BNG’s success relies on access to consistent and objective data:  

  • A national dataset.  
  • Habitat condition scoring.   
  • On-demand baseline.  
  • An annually updated dataset – change detection.  
  • Flexible licensing to suit your needs.  
  • Ease of availability – no platform requirements. 

For more information and to book a demo, contact us: info@mapimpact.io