Designing for Biodiversity Net Gain

Description

The course is for individuals wishing to advance their skills in designing biodiversity net gain for development projects. Through presentations, case studies and practical work, the course focuses on designing biodiversity net gain (BNG) for various types, sizes and locations of development projects including small-scale to large-scale, as well as rural and urban locations.

The training covers BNG during the early stages of a project through to ecological impact assessments and the design stage. It touches on how BNG can influence core project decisions such as master planning and optioneering, and the role of local planning authorities in embedding BNG within planning functions. The core element of the training is designing BNG: this includes applying the mitigation hierarchy; habitat trading, ecological equivalency, promoting connecting, achieving additionality, and offsetting losses with gains elsewhere as the final stage of the mitigation hierarchy.

Who Should Attend?

Primarily ecological consultants who will be designing biodiversity net gain for development projects. Other target participants include: local authority ecologists, conservation officers and licensing staff within SNCOs and NGOs, and EIA coordinators.

Knowledge Level

Intermediate

Prior Knowledge

A thorough knowledge of ecological impact assessments and ecological mitigation, compensation and enhancement design for development projects is required. Also required is basic knowledge of biodiversity unit calculations or use of other biodiversity metrics for designing biodiversity net gain.

Learning Outcomes

• Understand biodiversity net gain in the context of the UK good practice principles, national strategy and planning policy.
• Undertake key aspects of designing biodiversity net gain including trading rules and additionality.
• Understand good practice for evidencing biodiversity net gain at consents and planning stage.

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