WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN?

Biodiversity Net Gain offers an opportunity, not merely to protect Oxfordshire’s depleted biodiversity, but to restore some of what has been lost.

The principle of Biodiversity Net Gain is a simple one: to achieve a greater diversity of wildlife after a development has taken place than was the case before it took place. Biodiversity Net Gain is a key plank in the UK Government’s ‘25 year environment plan’ which pledges that this generation will be the first to leave the environment in a better state than it found it.

The Environment Act requires the majority of planning consent in England to demonstrate a 10% gain in biodiversity (compared to pre-development), using a scoring system developed by Natural England. In Oxfordshire, many local authorities were already applying a biodiversity gain policy to new developments.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

When a local authority applies a Biodiversity Net Gain policy, developers will be required as part of their planning consent to demonstrate a ‘net gain’ over a specified period (usually 30 years).

Biodiversity Net Gain can often be delivered within a development site. Where this is not possible, an offset or compensation charge may be applied per ‘biodiversity unit’ lost which is then used to create the ‘net gain’ elsewhere.

For planning applications made before Feruary 2024 and where TOE has a signed memorandum of understanding with the local authority, developers can make Biodiversity Net Gain payments direct to TOE as a way to meet their planning commitments.

For planning applications made after Feruary 2024 TOE have registered Habitat Banks from which units can be purchased.

For more information, see our pages for landowners and developers.

WHY TOE?

Biodiversity Gain has huge potential to restore nature on a ‘landscape scale’ in Oxfordshire. Because of the unique way TOE operates, we can help ensure that Biodiversity Net Gain payments are used strategically and to greatest effect.

TOE is an independent charity and has strong relationships with local planning authorities, and biodiversity community across the county.

TOE facilitates and support landowners to support larger-scale, more sustainable projects, but can also help ensure that the projects can be joined up to create ‘wildlife corridors’, promoting connectivity between areas of high value for wildlife.

We work closely with all our partners to ensure that the way we place Biodiversity Net Gain projects has maximum benefit in support of the emerging county-wide nature recovery strategies.

As a charity any surplus funds are put back into our Local Environemnt Fund to further nature restoration across the county.

CAN TOE BE CERTAIN THIS WILL BENEFIT WILDLIFE OVERALL?

There are legitimate concerns that offsetting could in some circumstances be used to mask widespread damage to irreplaceable, priority or protected habitats.

TOE has policies and processes in place to ensure that our work does not enable the destruction of important habitat. Our work on Biodiversity Net Gain is overseen by an independent panel, made up of local authority officers, conservation organisations, Defra group and independent individuals. We will not accept biodiversity offsets on sites where the loss to habitat is unacceptable.

Working closely with local authorities, developers and landowners, Biodiversity Net Gain payments can be used to ensure that development in Oxfordshire does not come at the expense of nature, but helps to restore what has been lost for future generations.