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Trees are often, quite rightly, referred to as the ‘lungs of the Earth’ but trees and their wider habitats are critical to our lives in so many more ways. The UN has designated 21st March International Day of the Forests to recognise just how important they are.

From providing raw materials for building and manufacture, to providing a home for plants and creatures that are the source of life-saving medicines, we all rely on forests to sustain our way of life.

Biodiversity is the most complex and vital feature of our planet. However, despite its importance, biodiversity has been in trouble for some time, with humans interfering with, and damaging valuable ecosystems.

With spring just around the corner, we can look forward to seeing more of our spectacular British wildlife as the temperature rises, daylight hours increase, and flora begins to grow again. For those looking to submit planning applications, or working on new development proposals, it’s important to think ahead at this time of year, to ensure you’re not caught out by ecological surveys with a restricted season.

After what feels like years of waiting, the new Environment Bill has finally received Royal Assent, making it the Environment Act 2021.

The aim of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is to protect the environment by ensuring that a consenting authority, when deciding whether to grant permission, does so with all the details of the likely significant effects on the environment, and takes this into account in the decision-making process. An EIA also ensures that the public is given early and effective opportunities to be involved in the decision-making procedures.

The world currently faces a major challenge. How do we meet the increasing demand for food supply, whilst also protecting the environment?

The government published a consultation document at the end of last year on proposed reforms to National Planning Policy, alongside a draft version of a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), setting out its planning policies for England. A few weeks before, the government also announced amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB) following pressure from backbench MPs calling for a ban on mandatory housing targets, as well as abolishing the requirement for a five-year housing land supply.

Animals play a vital role in our ecosystems, making life on Earth possible for humans. Safeguarding species is crucial for our health and the future of the planet, yet so many are under threat, with habitat loss and overexploitation threatening biodiversity

In its Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (LURB), the government puts huge emphasis on its commitment to ensuring that town and country planning regimes contribute to addressing the issues of protecting the environment and tackling climate change.

When planning a new development of any size, one of the first considerations should be the impact your project will have on the local environment. Construction work may destroy some elements of the local ecosystem and disturb others, which can have a huge knock-on effect for local and even national wildlife, as well as causing environmental damage. To try and counteract that, and to improve and protect the planet, the government has a set of rules around biodiversity in development projects – with the latest addition being a biodiversity net gain credit system.

Curlews are currently in decline in the UK and have been classified as a ‘Red List’ species since 2015 by the RSPB, indicating that it is a high conservation concern. The decline is largely due to habitat loss and degradation, as well as changes in land use practices and the impacts of climate change. The Breeding Bird Survey from the RSPB recorded significant declines in Scotland and England of 42 per cent between 1995 and 2008, while the British Trust for Ornithology highlighted in a 2006 survey that there was a rapid decline in Wales due to low breeding success.

If you’ve ever filled in a planning application before, you know there are a lot of conditions and regulations that need to be met in order for the application to be successful. In fact, if you get it wrong your application could be rejected purely because you didn’t include certain information, meaning you have to start the whole process again. It’s one of the reasons we recommend having a professional help you complete any planning application paperwork before filing it with the council. But for developers or those applying to build on new land, there is one area of planning applications that are often missed. Biodiversity.

Defra will soon open the second round of the Landscape Recovery scheme when they’ll welcome bids from farmers and land managers who want to take a large-scale, long-term approach to producing environmental and climate goods on their land.

When you start a discussion about biodiversity, the topic of climate change will inevitably come up, and pretty quickly. That’s not a coincidence – by now it’s widely recognised and accepted that biodiversity and climate change are heavily interconnected. You really can’t address one without considering the other. As a team of ecologists, environmental scientists and geographers, we understand the importance of protecting and preserving the biodiversity of the planet. So for us, the question becomes how can we fight climate change by encouraging and protecting local biodiversity, and help our customers do the same?

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements will come into force in November this year and will require developers to deliver a BNG of at least 10% on new developments.
The steps required to achieve this will vary significantly between projects. For example, a site with relatively low biodiversity, such as arable farmland, that is being developed into a small housing development, will likely be able to reach the threshold on-site through gardens, trees, bodies of water and open spaces on the development. Whereas a site that has a higher baseline level of biodiversity may need to purchase off-site biodiversity net gain units.