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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment
Phoebe Weston

England brings in biodiversity rules to force builders to compensate for loss of nature

Hawthorn trees in flooded wetland on Iford Estate in East Sussex.
Flooded fields on Iford Estate farm in East Sussex, one of five farms selected as a pilot project for the biodiversity net gain scheme. Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

England is launching a biodiversity credit scheme this week that attempts to force all new road and housebuilding projects to benefit nature, rather than damage it.

The “nature market”, called biodiversity net gain (BNG), means all new building projects must achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity or habitat. If a woodland is destroyed by a road, for example, another needs to be recreated. This can happen either on site or elsewhere.

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