Biodiversity Net gain – Bristol

New environmental policies, including the recent Environment Act, are making Biodiversity Net Gain a requirement for new development projects. Developers will need to consider biodiversity net gain for any upcoming projects to ensure compliance with environmental legislation.

If you are looking to achieve biodiversity net gain, we can provide experienced ecological surveyors to conduct a biodiversity net gain assessment and produce professional-standard reports to accompany your planning application. We are able to provide a range of ecological services including initial ecology surveys, including Preliminary Ecological Appraisals (PEA), to inform the net gain assessment.

We are able to carry out surveys across Bristol and surrounding areas such as Long Ashton, Pill, Portbury, Filton and Warmley.

If your development needs a biodiversity net gain assessment, or for more information about any of the ecological services that we provide, please call us on 02920 650331, or email us at enquiries@acerecology.co.uk.

What is Biodiversity Net Gain?

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is the term given to a process involving the mitigation of habitat loss, to ensure an overall increase in biodiversity as a result of a new development. The process itself follows the mitigation hierarchy, which sets out that everything possible must be done to first avoid, and then minimise, and restore/rehabilitate losses of biodiversity on site. To achieve a biodiversity net gain, a development must provide a 10% increase in biodiversity. Net gain can be achieved by enhancing biodiversity on-site or creating new habitats off site.

Environment Act 2021

The Environment Bill 2019 became the Environment Act 2021, after gaining Royal Assent in Autumn 2021. Until further secondary legislation is made, we are currently in a two-year transitionary period, where biodiversity net gain is not yet a legal requirement. However, ahead of biodiversity net gain becoming a legal requirement, certain local authorities are updating their current planning policies to make it a mandatory planning requirement now.