Read about the actions Defra has taken since 31 January 2023, from supporting England's wildlife to cleaning up our water.
Today, we published the draft secondary legislation which provides the detail for the new biodiversity net gain (BNG) framework. There are six statutory instruments which will become law when BNG goes live in January 2024.
With the January launch date around the corner, the market for Biodiversity Net Gain offers many potential opportunities for land managers, but what steps do land managers need to take to sell to this new ecosystem service market? Katie Gowers, BNG’s metric policy lead at Defra, has put together some helpful flowcharts to guide land managers through the process, and to consider the different sale options.
LNRSs and BNG both aim to reverse the decline of biodiversity in England: but what do you need to know about how they work together? We’ve summarised how the policies will join up to support developers, landowners, and local authorities in contributing to nature recovery. This blog is also relevant to ecologists and associated advisors on both supply and demand sides of the off-site BNG market.
Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) are a key new tool to help make nature recovery possible. Read on to find out more about them!
Calling all developers and local authorities: following testing with stakeholders, we are pleased to share the finalised biodiversity gain plan template, alongside guidance and information on the biodiversity gain plan. The biodiversity gain plan template and guidance documents Please click …
If you’re planning to sell off-site biodiversity units for mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) you will need to commit to managing the habitat for 30 years. The habitat works will need to be legally secured through either a s106 agreement …
Ahead of mandatory BNG, we are confirming that the initial list of irreplaceable habitats for biodiversity net gain (BNG) purposes will broadly mirror the list of examples already within the National Planning Policy Framework. This will be followed by a …
With BNG round the corner, we’ve put together suggested actions, to help LPAs prepare ahead of January. We've put these together based on feedback from local authorities and will make any updates directly in this blog. This list does not cover every possible action and each local area will have specific needs. It’s also worth noting that these points do not replace the legislation and guidance that we’ll be providing later this year.
What is land use policy, what does it mean for England and what do policy makers do day to day? We sat down with the Land Use Divisional Director to find out.
Here in the Defra Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) team, we’ve likened BNG to a baby elephant! It’s big, complex and needs a herd to nurture it to adulthood. In this blog, we set out what's happened so far on the BNG journey and what you can expect next.