It’s been a long time in the making, but we are pleased to see the launch today of the UK Government’s new Biodiversity Net Gain Scheme in England. RSPB Head of Nature Policy in England, Carl Bunnage, reflects on the announcement …
In a nutshell, Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) means that developers must ensure that any development that harms nature (eg trees, hedges) needs to restore some land for nature. There are some exceptions, but this will apply to most new developments in England.
Simple really … and it's delivered through the builders either providing nature-friendly features directly within their new developments (such as housing estates) or paying for others to deliver new places for nature as nearby as possible, for example, to improve or extend local nature reserves.
BNG is not a silver bullet, and it has issues that still need to be ironed out, but with the right policies and rules in place, it could see £millions invested in the natural world – more birds, more hedges and woodlands, more wetlands – more life.
Importantly, BNG is not a green light for a developer to build anywhere. It adds to, rather than replaces, other planning rules. This means avoiding building in areas of importance for nature in the first place. Places such as our network of protected sites and irreplaceable habitats, like ancient woodlands, are simply too valuable to be damaged with the promise of cash to do something elsewhere.
Irreplaceable habitats are just that – places that take many (sometimes thousands) of years to create and which can’t simply be replaced. We have lost so much already, as detailed in the State of Nature Reports, and what is often left is small amounts, where nature clings on.
We are pleased that the UK Government has recognised the habitats on an official list - but it is short. If we are to reverse nature’s decline, this list must be extended, for example, to include such precious places as chalk grasslands and ancient hay meadows.
Alongside the Wildlife Trusts, National Trust, and Woodland Trust, we have published seven Nature Market Principles which we hope will shape the conversation and drive up standards of delivery to get the very best outcomes for nature.
Congratulations to everyone who has worked so hard to develop the new BNG system, and we watch this space with great interest as we all work toward a better system for habitats, wildlife, and people.
Just think of the win-wins for both nature and people if we can collectively implement this well!
The RSPB is ready to play our part. For developers looking to invest we have available units including priority habitat such as floodplain wetland mosaic fen habitat and wet woodland as well as other neutral grassland, mixed scrub, ponds, hedgerows, and ditches you find out more here: https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/work-with-the-rspb-to-plan-and-implement-your-biodiversity-net-gain-bng-strategy
And contact us here: conservation.invest@rspb.org.uk
The problem with this is who is going to "police" it? How do we know for certain the developers will carry out the work they agreed to, if no-one follows up?A case in point is all the trees that were planted along motorways, etc., where sometimes 80% of them have died because no one took care of them or watered them after they were planted.Also in areas where protected wildlife (eg great crested newts) were moved to other locations to allow development, no one followed up on this, and much of the wildlife just disappeared - i.e. it didn't stay in the new environment because it probably wasn't suitable. (Great crested newts especially are very fussy about the ponds they use.) You can't just take wildlife and dump it somewhere else and expect it to survive without some sort of back-up in place.With BNG, probably the "damage" will be done to the site before a replacement has been found. So what happens to the wildlife that is displaced? It has nowhere to go until the development is completed, by which time it will have died of starvation or been unable to compete with resident wildlife in the surrounding area. You can't put up signs directing wildlife to the designated areas, especially as it might be some way distant.Sadly BNG is just something that looks good on paper.
I agree. Having seen many road projects where veteran trees and hedges have been replaced by spindly saplings that die within two years, leaving a barren wasteland. Developers try to tell us that the measures they have put in place are for the good of wildlife, such as 'bat bridges', wildlife tunnels/crossings etc. The reality is that species cannot survive long enough for any new plantings to 'replace' those which have been ripped out.