Government proposals would torpedo vital nature recovery scheme & biodiversity market, but new research shows a better solution for nature and development. - Wildlife and Countryside Link

• Widespread misuse of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) exemptions by large and small developers meant 86% of all approved planning applications claimed exemptions in the scheme’s first year.
• New research shows this would worsen to 97% of all approved planning applications claiming exemptions from Biodiversity Net Gain, if all small developments were taken out of scope of BNG and loopholes aren’t closed - jeopardising nature recovery.
• Government proposals to remove BNG rules for all small developments would also inhibit green growth, by drastically reducing the scope of the biodiversity unit market. Allowing developers to avoid biodiversity compensation obligations of £250 million per year.
• The report proposes an alternative to reduce burdens for 50,000+ of the smallest developments each year, while also closing loopholes that allow larger developers to sidestep the scheme. This would double the area of land contributing to nature recovery through BNG (an additional 20,552 hectares) and double the size of the biodiversity market, as compared to Government proposals to exempt all small sites.

Environmentalists and economists are urging the Government to abandon damaging proposals (currently under consultation) to exempt all small development sites (under 1 hectare) from crucial biodiversity requirements. The call comes as new research, BNG in Small Developments, highlights this would be a major setback for nature recovery and risks collapsing the emerging biodiversity credits market. Instead, the research shows that by removing the very smallest sites (under 0.1ha) from the scheme altogether but ending loopholes for larger sites, a “win-win” could be achieved for nature and development.