One year on, The Wildlife Trusts set to be one of the largest providers of Biodiversity Net Gain - The Wildlife Trusts

Gold standard of nature recovery proposed across 75 sites in England

One year after Biodiversity Net Gain was introduced to ensure that new developments leave the natural environment in a better state than they found it, The Wildlife Trusts are proving that restoring nature alongside development is entirely possible.

The Wildlife Trusts are set to be one of the largest providers of Biodiversity Net Gain with five active sites now registered, and over 70 sites proposed across 46 local planning authorities – and they aim to raise the bar by setting a gold standard approach. This means Wildlife Trusts are creating new strategic areas of wildlife habitats that are supporting large-scale nature recovery projects. These wild places are protected for nature and communities in perpetuity – well beyond the mandatory 30 years.

Additionally, wherever possible Wildlife Trusts are encouraging developers to go beyond the minimum 10% gain for wildlife and striving to deliver at least a 20% gain. It is widely acknowledged that 10% is the bare minimum needed to maintain the status quo for nature. Given the catastrophic declines in nature over recent decades, clearly, greater ambition is needed – and it is vital to avoid damaging wild areas that are good for nature in the first place.

Dr Rob Stoneman, director of landscape recovery at The Wildlife Trusts, says: “This new approach to development is successfully funding nature’s recovery and Wildlife Trusts across the country are working with developers to design thriving communities surrounded by beautiful, natural green space. We need to address the nature and climate crises while also ensuring that new homes can be built. With the UK Government’s plan to build 1.5 million homes, biodiversity net gain is a step in the right direction and must remain a central part of the planning process.”