The Land, Environment, Economics and Policy (LEEP) Institute has researched various aspects of Biodiversity & Environmental Net Gain. These pages provide a home for this research.
This research has underpinned the creation of this series of Webpages, a Policy Note, Podcast and Game & Primary School Teaching Resource. These engagement and communication materials help bring our research findings to a broader audience.
The creation of these webpages and resources has been made possible with funding from The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. Please see the Acknowledgements section below for information about other research funding sources.
The introduction of the UK’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) legislation is a world-leading step forward.
BNG legislation seeks to address the unprecedented loss of wild species generally, and in the UK specifically. It became mandatory in the UK in 2024. It was introduced as part of the Environment Act 2021, which requires developers to ensure that wildlife habitats are left in a better state than before development.
In the UK, development and new housing construction, in particular, is a major driver of biodiversity loss.
Biodiversity in the UK has already declined by almost 50% since the start of the century and the UK is regarded as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. Biodiversity decline could cost the global economy US$10 trillion by 2050.
LEEP research broadly finds:
Key recommendations include:
For full details and references, please see the Policy Note.
In these webpages you can find:
LEEP Policy Note: Delivering Biodiversity Net Gain in practice
– Summarising key research findings and providing recommendations for improvement.
Podcast: “Can we have it all? Biodiversity, housing and people“
– Walkie Talkie production by Agile Rabbit.
Game & Teaching Resource
– Exploring Net Gain trade-off choices for Nature and People
– Designed as a Key Stage 2 curriculum teaching resource (for 8+ year olds).
– Who should benefit from environmental policies? Social preferences and non-market values for the distribution of environmental improvements.
– Biodiversity offsets perform poorly for both people and nature, but better approaches are available.
Signposting
– Links to other research within LEEP and beyond.
Photo by Javier Allegue Barros on Unsplash
The LEEP research team are grateful for research support from the following sources: