One year on from the introduction of BNG: how development is helping nature thrive

It has been a year since Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) – one of the most pivotal pieces of environmental legislation for the building sector – finally came into effect. Even though it has only been in force for only 12 months, it is already a huge success story and proves that building development can directly support nature.

England is the first country in the world to legislate for the restoration of nature alongside building development, creating a thriving nature market and positioning itself as a world leader in nature finance. The legislation has already led to the restoration of thousands of acres of land and of valuable habitats that will help the UK’s depleted ecosystems recover and our native wildlife grow in abundance.

Under the legislation, developers are required by law to ensure that all significant developments deliver a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity if they are to be granted planning permission. Developers can do this by creating new habitats at the site of development, or where this is not possible, by purchasing biodiversity units from a dedicated BNG site – like the habitat banks that Environment Bank has created. We are currently working to support more than 1,000 development projects across a vast range of sectors in England – with 55% of them being residential development.

Even before BNG, mitigating the impact of development on habitats wasn’t something entirely unfamiliar to the built environment sector. Similar policies were being enforced in various councils across England. However, by introducing a statutory metric for calculating biodiversity alongside set guidance for delivering gains, BNG policy has helped build a standardised framework that could be enforced across the country, creating much needed consistency for developers.

BNG is also benefiting the rural economy as developers have the option to purchase biodiversity units created in rural locations to deliver the required 10% net gain. This off-site option is vital as there often isn’t a viable location on-site for nature restoration.

These off-site biodiversity units are created at habitat banks, parcels of land set aside for BNG, and this system of habitat banking has created a great opportunity for landowners to generate additional land income. Rural farmers are able to gain a reliable stream of long-term income alongside all the benefits that come with increased biodiversity on their land, such as improved soil health and natural flood mitigation.

When BNG came into effect for developers, we had already legally secured more than 2,000 acres of land in partnership with local farmers and started creating new habitats to generate more than 5,000 off-site biodiversity units for developers to purchase. We now have almost 8,000 open enquiries for our biodiversity units.

Creating habitat banks also accelerates nature restoration at scale. Ecological principles demonstrate that if we create larger habitats in strategic locations, we can actually be far more effective at restoring broad ecosystems and supporting wildlife. As dedicated spaces set aside for BNG, habitat banks can also be created where they can be regularly managed and protected by qualified ecologists and land specialists.

BNG habitats must be monitored for 30 years to comply with policy, and that’s a long time to ensure that habitats are properly maintained, something that’s especially challenging if they’re part of a development site where nature could be easily disturbed.

Habitat banking also means that you don’t have to wait until the development impacts have occurred to start creating new habitats and generating biodiversity gains, so we can begin healing ecosystems immediately.

Only one year in, the progress has been extraordinary. There is a huge pipeline of biodiversity units available for large and smaller developers to buy in what is becoming a thriving market. Now, as we embark on the second year under this policy, and with a renewed push for meeting building targets, the opportunities for nature restoration continue to grow by the day.