Biodiversity Net
Gain (BNG)

Mandated in England through the Environment Act 2021, Biodiversity Net Gain is designed to ensure that habitats for wildlife are left in a ‘measurably better state’ than they were in before development took place.

In short, it is a strategy to enable the recovery of nature through the development and planning process. It is particularly relevant to:

The key mandatory BNG stipulations enshrined in the Environment Act, include:

To be applied from January 2024 in England
- A number of local planning authorities require a gain in biodiversity to be delivered in advance of the mandatory introduction
BNG will apply to most developments which result in the loss of habitat, but a ‘de minimis’ threshold applies and some types of planning are exempt
A minimum 10% gain - calculated using the Biodiversity Metric will be required
Habitat provision must be secured for at least 30 years via planning obligations, or conservation covenants

Where net gain cannot be achieved on site, then biodiversity offsetting must be sought first through local offsetting arrangements or, where this cannot be achieved, via the purchase of statutory Biodiversity Credits from the government. Biodiversity offsetting will need to be registered through the BNG site register.

Our team of BNG specialists has the experience and the expertise to help developers:

Understand BNG requirements
Make informed decisions on any offset options for acquiring the necessary habitat units
Identify and secure habitat units if offset requirements are known
- Either via greenoffset.co.uk - a portal, launched by Fisher German
- Or via bespoke searches to meet a specific brief
- Acquire ‘biodiversity offsets’ on land outside the developed area - ideally within the local area to account for any loss and deliver the net gain required
- Acquire credits from government if necessary

Implementation will be phased as summarised below: