Sharing our Views on Biodiversity Net Gain

Director Eleanor Trenfield presented at a Biodiversity Net Gain Seminar hosted by Fieldfisher Law alongside experts Christopher Stanwell, Ben Kite, and Lisa Bulmer from legal, ecology, and offsetting fields.

During the conference, Eleanor shed light on the recent guidance and looked at moving beyond the metrics to benefit people as well as nature.  She highlighted some unintended consequences that are emerging as a result of the BNG metric, based on the fact that scores are weighted to simpler habitats, with a pressure to achieve maximum scores.

She also stressed the pressure for large areas of habitat to be fenced off to obtain maximum condition scores and how this is not always an appropriate design solution. This pressure effectively divorces people from nature and reduces available space for features like drainage basins which therefore need to become deeper and more engineered with safety fencing encircling them.

At EDLA, the focus remains on fostering connections between people and nature. Our landscape architects advocate for a balanced, green infrastructure-led approach that prioritizes both human well-being and nature conservation.