UKGBC launches new guidance to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain

Alongside the climate crisis, we face an ecological crisis in which biodiversity in the UK is under severe and urgent threat.

With 50% of the UK’s economy linked to nature and the UK one of the most biodiversity depleted countries in the world, restoring our natural environments is critical to building our future green economy.

The new Biodiversity Net Gain requirements set out in the Government’s Environment Act present huge opportunities for the built environment to restore nature and build more regenerative towns and cities. Yet many organisations need more specific and practical support to build their understanding of the complex concepts involved.

To make Biodiversity Net Gain as accessible as possible to organisations across the UK’s built environment, UKGBC has published a series of user-friendly factsheets and definitions that explain the key concepts.

This is the first in a wider series of resources designed to help organisations meet – and where possible, go beyond – Biodiversity Net Gain, developed with support and advice from Defra and Natural England. The factsheets are designed to demystify key themes and strategies; and signpost to key resources and support that will support the delivery of BNG.

BNG has the potential to transform how the UK’s built environment can play its part in restoring and regenerating nature and tackling the global ecological crisis.

“As well as enriching the natural world on which we all depend, we know that nature-positive solutions can build more resilient environments, tackle the climate crisis, and improve people’s lives, health, and wellbeing,” said Hannah Giddings, Senior Advisor for Resilience and Nature.

“These assets are an important step towards UKGBC’s mission of ensuring that BNG can be adopted by as many organisations as possible, as quickly as possible.”

The factsheets published by UKGBC also explain the broader concept of Environmental Net Gain which, though not enshrined in legislation, remains a powerful strategy for organisations in the built environment to maximise the wide social benefits of nature-positive strategies that can tackle the climate and ecological crises.

The factsheets are available here while the definitions can be viewed here.