The new British Standard, BS 8683: Process for designing and implementing biodiversity net gain – Specification, specifies a process to design, implement, maintain and monitor biodiversity net gain (BNG) outcomes from a development project
It does not cover the actual delivery of BNG. It provides a framework to demonstrate that a project has followed a process that is based on the UK’s BNG Good Practice Principles.
This British Standard is for any sector of industry, including residential, mixed-use, energy, water, transport, communications and infrastructure across the UK. It is for any scale of project from individual house-builds to larger developments. It can also be used by land managers aiming to generate BNG through management of an estate.
BSI head of environment, social and governance standards David Fatscher said: “BNG has an important role to play in protecting, restoring, recovering nature and supporting thriving ecosystems. To achieve BNG, a project needs to follow the mitigation hierarchy and be able to demonstrate that it has followed the UK’s Good Practice Principles of BNG in order to leave the biodiversity of the affected area in a measurably better state than before. We are proud to publish the new British Standard which supplements the principles with practical guidance.”
If you have £218 to spare, you can download the standard here.
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