Biodiversity Units

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a policy introduced by the Environment Act 2021 that applies to England’s built environment sector. To meet planning conditions, new developments must result in at least 10% more biodiversity than was found on the development site beforehand.

BNG policy is designed to ensure that developments cause no further net loss in biodiversity and instead play an active role in restoring biodiversity that’s already been lost. To comply with BNG policy, any new habitats created to increase biodiversity must be managed for at least 30 years.

A BNG Habitat Bank is an area of land where new habitats – like meadows, woodlands, hedgerows, and ponds – are created and managed for the long term to help biodiversity flourish.

BNG Habitat Banks can be formally registered with the government and listed on the national biodiversity gain sites register once the required legal agreements are in place.

The measurable increase in biodiversity that’s achieved by habitat banking can be translated into Biodiversity Units (also known as BNG Units or Biodiversity Net Gain Units). Developers can meet their BNG planning condition by purchasing off-site Biodiversity Units from Habitat Banks like ours.