A cross-posting from my GCSE Natural History blog.
A consultancy is ongoing on the proposals for Biodiversity Net Gain on construction projects. It ends on the 24th of July.
The Wildlife Trusts are asking for people to contribute to the consultancy.
Here's what they say:
The UK Government wants to speed up development and has suggested changing some of the rules for developers.One idea considers removing the current requirement for development on small sites to give back to nature and make up for unavoidable loss – a process called biodiversity net gain (BNG). New plans have been released to “improve the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain for minor, medium and brownfield development”.
BNG is about making sure developers avoid harm to important wildlife habitats, make up for unavoidable losses and go further, to restore nature. Done well, it protects wildlife and supports nature recovery. The vast majority of all development is on small sites.
We are completely against removing this requirement. We don't want it to be easier for developers to build over nature and forget about it.
A new Government consultation about the changes is now live. The industry is already responding. We need you to add your views too - using our form you can send a response straight to the consultation team.
This change is not a minor technical adjustment. At the moment BNG is a requirement for most developments with few exemptions. This is a major shift in the regulations that would significantly undermine protections for nature. It comes at a time when protecting wildlife and the environment is more urgent than ever, and BNG is just beginning to demonstrate it can help nature to recover.
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