The British government has published provisional price tiers for its statutory biodiversity credits as part of upcoming net gain legislation, with the final values to be set by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and subject to periodic review.

Statutory biodiversity credits will be available to purchase by eligible projects under mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules set to come into force in the country at the end of the year.

As part of the law that applies from November onwards, any new developments across England and Wales will now need to prove a 10% net gain in biodiversity as a condition of planning permission.

Buying statutory biodiversity credits represents a last resort option for developers if they are unable to use on-site or off-site units to deliver BNG, the government said in a release.

“They can be purchased only if projects can demonstrate that they are unable to meet their biodiversity net gain requirement in full either onsite and/or through buying biodiversity units in the offsite market,” the government stated.

The prices range from £42,000 per unit for certain grassland and wetland areas, up to £650,000 for lakes, with habitats categorised into low, medium, and high areas of distinctiveness, as well as some so-called ‘linear’ habitats.

‘Distinctiveness’ is a measure based on the type of habitat and its distinguishing features. It measures different ecological factors, such as the rarity of the habitat and the species richness within a habitat.

Some have warned that among the biggest risks to the BNG legislation is if the British government were to be set too low a price level for its statutory credits.

“These prices are indicative, which means they give an indication of likely prices, to help developers plan ahead. We will publish confirmed prices when biodiversity net gain becomes mandatory,” the government confirmed.

In addition to these prices, available in full on the government’s website, if a project is to buy statutory biodiversity credits, a ‘spatial risk multiplier’ will apply, which doubles the amount of credits you need, and in this case, two credits for every one biodiversity unit must be compensated for.

More information is available about the spatial risk multiplier in the government’s user guide.

The government is also working on a biodiversity metric, to be made available when the BNG becomes mandatory, and project owners will be able to buy statutory biodiversity credits using a credit sales service.

By Roy Manuell – roy@carbon-pulse.com

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