Biodiversity Net Gain – OUTCO discusses your path to a greener, more sustainable future

We all share a responsibility to our natural environment, but the creation of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation and modern ESG reporting duties have brought this responsibility into sharp focus for many organisations. Rather than being treated as an afterthought, the ability to support business goals and objectives is making good environmental stewardship into a strategic advantage – and changing the game in outdoor FM. Far from being an obligation or a cost, grounds maintenance has gained a new role as an enabler of corporate best practice. At OUTCO we can help your organisation take this step. We are committed to supporting our clients through all their biodiversity projects, with a suite of biodiversity services that not only ensure compliance with BNG requirements, but also enhance the ecological value of your sites.

Understanding Biodiversity Net Gain

In the context of development, the UK government defines BNG as ensuring that “habitats for wildlife are left in a measurably better state than they were before the development”. This duty to improve nature – either in quality or quantity – has become a mandatory obligation for developers under UK law, with a target of a 10% improvement.

Alongside this legislation has evolved a framework for defining, quantifying, and benchmarking the biodiversity of sites – and the degree of improvement over many years to ensure the lasting impact of this change. As a result, there are statutory biodiversity metrics for assessing habitat and a standardised formula for calculating biodiversity units. Given that not every site can support a thriving natural habitat, the UK’s approach to BNG also allows for the use of off-site biodiversity units. Hence, even when habitats can’t be improved at a particular development, other land owned by the developer can be improved in lieu. As a last resort, biodiversity units can be purchased from a third party.

It’s not just a question for developers, however: the law seeks lasting improvement and places a duty to maintain improved habitats for a minimum of 30 years. This makes this a growing priority for many landowners and businesses managing outdoor spaces, whether to maintain the long-term improvement of a site developed under this legislation or as an opportunity to leverage sources of valuable off-site biodiversity. Outside of the specific BNG legislation, the ability to demonstrate environmental best practice is also increasingly valuable for larger listed companies with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting obligations.

How to reach a greener, more sustainable future

Thanks to our expertise in habitat assessment, AI-driven analysis, and long-term natural capital management, OUTCO works with our clients to help them meet regulatory obligations efficiently and sustainably. Through practical and scalable solutions, organisations can take proactive steps to improve biodiversity across their sites – whether or not development is taking place.

To better understand how BNG can be achieved, let’s look at the key stages this typically involves:

1. Nature Impact Opportunity Assessment. This process establishes a baseline understanding of a site’s biodiversity value. It includes an on the ground habitat assessment and mapping stage, a desktop/GIS analysis of the local area and understanding of local biodiversity action plans and green corridors, leading to a comprehensive report that collates all these sources of data and insight with recommendations. Preliminary surveys can also be conducted that utilise a combination of high-resolution imagery, artificial intelligence (AI) analysis, and expert assessment to evaluate key biodiversity features.
2. Nature impact design strategy. The next stage is to work with you to develop a site-specific nature recovery concept with detailed plans, budgets, and planting schedules. This is key to linking grounds maintenance work to your organisations BNG or ESG objectives – taking the insight from the initial assessments and makes it into a practical roadmap that helps bring clarity to your investment.
3. Habitat Creation and Implementation. This is the implementation and delivery of the proposed biodiversity improvements, involving site preparation and planting suitable native species to ensure resilience and biodiversity. As sustainability is key (remember that 30-year BNG duty), there’s also a five-year plant defect period to replace failed plantings and ongoing monitoring and adaptations as needed to ensure the habitat succeeds over the long-term.
4. Natural Capital Asset Management. Combining ongoing habitat maintenance with detailed analysis and reporting, this gives you robust, quantifiable data to demonstrate the success of your nature impact investment and to verify biodiversity gains. To relieve the pressure of ESG reporting burdens, OUTCO can make it all simple by compiling evidence for every site across your portfolio into an annual nature impact report.

Making meaningful change

Biodiversity supports ecosystems that provide cleaner air and water, carbon capture, and soil fertility. Protecting these natural assets requires positive action across society to abate habitat loss and environmental degradation – and new regulations place this ball firmly into the court of landowners and businesses managing outdoor spaces.

This represents both a challenge and an opportunity. Developing sustainable habitats is an investment, but one that can pay dividends in terms of better environmental performance and material value through BNG credits. In some cases, attractive and biodiverse habitats such as wildflower meadows can actually require less ongoing maintenance and help to reduce grounds maintenance budgets. However, like any investment, getting it right is all about experience, insight and working to match insight and strategy to effective delivery. At OUTCO we can help you take on this challenge, identifying opportunities for habitat improvements, delivering long-term management plans, and making reporting and monitoring simpler. With OUTCO, investing in biodiversity is more than compliance – it’s about creating healthier, more sustainable landscapes for the future.

For more information about Biodiversity Net Gain, contact 0800 0432 911 email enquiries@outco.co.uk or visit www.outco.co.uk