What Are The Goals Of Biodiversity Net Gain?

The escalating ecological and climatic crises necessitate the acceleration of nature recovery for our planet, our wildlife, and our communities. One innovative approach that provides a promising solution is Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This article elucidates the concept, objectives, and implications of BNG, and how it can help in restoring our planet’s biodiversity.

Contents

1. Understanding Biodiversity Net Gain
2. Visualising Biodiversity Net Gain
3. The BNG Metric
4. Methods of BNG Delivery
5. BNG Process
6. What BNG Achieves
7. BNG and Nature
8. BNG’s Impact on People and Places
9. BNG’s Role in the Economy
10. BNG and Climate Change
11. The Potential of BNG Delivery
12. Perspectives on Maximising BNG Benefits
13. Key Facts and Next Steps

Understanding Biodiversity Net Gain

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a strategy for development and land management that aims to leave biodiversity in a better state than before the development took place. In essence, it strives to generate a quantifiable enhancement in biodiversity. This approach recognises the limited mechanisms to value, maintain, enhance, or create wider habitats. As a result, habitats continue to be lost to development, diminishing nature’s capacity to connect and thrive.

BNG is designed to supplement existing habitat and species protections. It endeavours to create new habitats and enhance existing ones, ensuring the ecological connectivity they provide for wildlife is retained and improved.

“Developments don’t have to eliminate wildlife. Trees in urban areas enhance the view, aid privacy, provide shade, and help reduce pollution and flash flooding. Community green spaces foster social connections, and local parks and woods are precious spaces for people to walk, play and unwind in.”

Visualising Biodiversity Net Gain

Development often leads to impacts on, and losses of, nature. BNG seeks to counteract these impacts by setting a requirement to increase biodiversity by a minimum of 10% compared to the baseline. This means that there will be more and better-quality places for wildlife to live, thrive, and for people to enjoy.

The BNG Metric

Calculating the value of habitats falls under the BNG metric. This tool should be used by a competent ecologist. It uses changes in the extent and quality of habitats as a proxy for nature and compares the habitat found on a site before and after development. Four key factors underpin this comparison: habitat size, condition, distinctiveness, and location.

Habitat Size

The habitat size refers to the overall area that the habitat covers.

Habitat Condition

The habitat condition indicates how well the habitat is functioning compared to one in full working order.

Habitat Distinctiveness

Habitat distinctiveness refers to the ecological importance of the habitat.

Strategic Significance

Strategic significance points to whether the habitat is a local priority or located in a priority area for habitat creation or enhancement.

Methods of BNG Delivery

BNG can be delivered through various mechanisms, including on-site and off-site units and statutory credits. These methods can include habitat creation or enhancement via landscaping or green infrastructure. They can also be delivered off-site through habitat creation or enhancement, including via habitat banks, with public and private landowners. Large-scale habitat projects delivering high-value habitats can also provide long-term nature-based solutions.

BNG Process

The BNG process involves several steps, including site selection and pre-application, biodiversity metric calculations, legal securement of BNG, addition of land to register, and management, monitoring, and reporting. The biodiversity metric should be used early in the design process to quantify and evaluate the impacts of different design options when there is more scope to influence design changes to achieve better ecological outcomes.

What BNG Achieves

BNG can achieve significant benefits for nature, people and places, the economy, and climate change.

BNG and Nature

BNG contributes towards nature recovery by enhancing existing or creating new habitats. It can help wildlife adapt to climate change and deliver ‘more, bigger, better and joined up’ green and blue networks.

“Rich grasslands can have as many as 30 different species of wildflower within a quarter of a square metre.”

BNG’s Impact on People and Places

BNG can improve our health and well-being by creating new or enhancing existing green spaces. It can create more attractive places to live and work and finance investment in new or existing green infrastructure and nature-based solutions.

“Around 9 in 10 people surveyed agreed that natural spaces are good for mental health and wellbeing.”

BNG’s Role in the Economy

BNG can help create greener neighbourhoods, and attractive places to live, work, and do business. It can create long-term income opportunities for landowners through investment in habitat management, providing certainty and creating jobs.

“In the UK, cooling from green and blue space in 2017 was valued at £243.6 million in labour productivity savings and avoided air conditioning costs.”

BNG and Climate Change

BNG can help mitigate climate change through the restoration and protection of nature. It can help communities adapt to climate change by increasing resilience to extremes of weather, including heatwaves and flooding.

“A young wood with mixed native species can lock up 400+ tonnes of carbon per hectare in trees, roots and soil.”

The Potential of BNG Delivery

BNG delivery has immense potential to transform our natural spaces and enhance biodiversity. It could result in more abundant and diverse wildlife, improved access to green spaces, and increased resilience to climate change.

Perspectives on Maximising BNG Benefits

Landowners, developers, and Local Planning Authorities (LPA) each have a role to play in maximising the benefits of BNG. By exploring options for delivering net gain, undertaking a baseline assessment of their land using the Biodiversity Metric, and initiating conversations with LPAs, landowners can contribute significantly. Similarly, developers can consider net gain at the site selection and design phase of projects and engage in collaborative and joined-up partnership work. LPAs can develop approaches to embed BNG in local planning policy and decision-making and identify features and areas for habitat creation and enhancement within strategic plans.

Key Facts and Next Steps

BNG represents a significant step towards restoring and enhancing biodiversity. It does not replace or reduce existing protection for protected sites, habitats, or species. It can also be delivered via blue and/or green infrastructure, both on-site and off-site. As we move forward, the focus should be on adopting and implementing BNG to foster a more sustainable and ecologically rich future.

In conclusion, BNG is more than just a concept; it is a commitment to safeguarding our planet’s biodiversity. By understanding its principles and striving to integrate them into our development practices, we can take a significant stride towards a healthier and more sustainable future.