The number of units available on England’s national Biodiversity net gain (BNG) register are set to double with the listing of one 617-hectare site, a restoration company said on Thursday.
The Boothby Wildland site in Lincolnshire will “soon” list 330 BNG units on the register, after Nattergal secured the conservation agreement for the area with the council, the organisation said on LinkedIn.
The BNG register has only published details of 11 initiatives since the scheme went live in February, requiring developers to improve biodiversity by 10%, with 326.98 units listed so far. Some developers have struggled to find units to buy from nearby conservation schemes as a result.
“The official timeline for units to be registered is six weeks, however we hear that this is happening within two to four weeks in practice, in part due to how few units are ready to be registered,” Claire Traynor, chief commercial officer at Nattergal, told Carbon Pulse.
“We are receiving a growing number of requests for BNG units at all our sites and have a healthy pipeline of leads for Boothby Wildland from local and national developers.”
Although supply is still falling short of total market demand, Nattergal is confident in sales as it hopes developers will recognise the value of landcape-scale work, she said.
Boothby is far larger than any single project currently on the register, where initiatives range in size from 39.74 units from a site in South Cambridgeshire to 3.2 units in Exeter.
One unit represents the biodiversity value of habitat in an area dependent on its size, quality, location, and habitat type, according to the government’s metric.
Nattergal’s initiative has scrub, grassland, lowland meadow, woodland, and ponds. Over the last three years, it has been retreating from intensive arable farming, with the last harvest happening this month.
“The sale of these units will generate crucial funding to support nature restoration. This area will be transformed into a vibrant habitat mosaic rich in biodiversity, benefiting local communities and ecosystems,” said the initiative.
TEETHING ISSUES
Nattergal has two other BNG projects in the pipeline covering approximately 500 ha together, around Epping Forest and Norfolk, spanning heathland, woodland, and wetlands. It hopes to list both of these sites on the register this year.
BNG project developers have to secure conservation agreements before they can list their project on the registry. Difficulties in finalising these with local authorities have led to delays across the country.
“Like any emerging market, there are teething issues that need to be overcome. Continued upskilling is needed within local planning authorities, and among ecologists to embed the consistency that builds market credibility over time,” said Traynor.
The Environment Bank announced three weeks ago it was about to list another eight sites with more than 800 units, but these units have yet to materialise on the registry.
The introduction of responsible bodies to the conservation agreements process is loosening the bottleneck of BNG supply, Environment Bank said at the time.
BNG has been praised as world leading, but has faced numerous early issues since its launch, with a report published in August counting 40 challenges.
By Thomas Cox – t.cox@carbon-pulse.com
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