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Biodiversity

Biodiversity underpins all life on Earth and refers to biological variety in all its forms - from the genetic make-up of plants and animals, to cultural diversity. Appropriate conservation and sustainable standards have been created to attempt to preserve biodiversity and reduce environmental impact across every sector. Our biodiversity standards aim to help organizations protect biodiversity in their own activities.

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Why standard BS 8683 on biodiversity net gain is an important step forward
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Why standard BS 8683 on biodiversity net gain is an important step forward

Did you know that there are approximately nine million types of plant, animal, fungi, and micro-organisms on Earth? Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, research has established that we need them all. Biodiversity makes Earth habitable by providing balanced natural solutions that filter water and regenerate the soil. Biodiversity also helps fight disease and helps sustain businesses and tourism. We’re all aware of the need to act to reduce climate change. Of equal urgency is the need to halt the loss of biodiversity because human activity is dismantling ecosystems and eradicating genes, species, and biological traits at a disastrous rate. So far, we’ve caused the loss of 83% of all wild animals and half of all plants. In response, governments, businesses, the public, and organizations of all types are now acting to protect biodiversity and reverse its loss. In response, we’ve now published the world’s first national standard on biodiversity net gain. The Biodiversity Net Gain Standard In the UK, the first set of good practice principles on biodiversity net gain (BNG) was published in 2016. BNG is an approach to development and land management that leaves biodiversity in a measurably better state than before, after first avoiding and then minimizing harm. Done well, BNG has an important role to play in protecting, restoring, and recovering nature and supporting thriving ecosystems. The 2016 principles provided a framework for developments to generate meaningful and long-lasting benefits for the natural environment. These principles were then supplemented by practical guidance and revised in 2020. In 2021, we published a standard that builds on and adds to this foundational work. BS 8683:2021 A process for designing and implementing Biodiversity net gain translates the principles – and actions to implement them – into a specification. It provides a consistent and structured process for designing and implementing BNG. It doesn’t cover the actual delivery of BNG, but rather provides a framework to demonstrate that a project has followed a process to design and implement BNG, based on UK-wide good practice. To learn about biodiversity in planning and development, click here. Who Does BS 8683 Benefit? This biodiversity standard applies to all sizes of development, from very large nationally significant infrastructure projects to small housing developments. Users will probably come from a wide range of sectors from construction and infrastructure through to land-owning organizations (who are both developers themselves and who are providing biodiversity offsets sites) and brokers. This biodiversity standard promotes biodiversity best practices to help consolidate the use of BNG and provides design and pre-construction professionals with a standard to specify to sub-contractors and clients as well as for local authority planners looking to incorporate biodiversity net gain in master planning and into local plans and strategies. BS 8683 will also promote good practice in the delivery and subsequent monitoring of biodiversity net gain and is also likely to be applicable to ongoing estates/grounds maintenance activities undertaken by existing projects, as well as the delivery of net gain from capital projects. This standard will also help provide confidence to the market in providing biodiversity offset sites by establishing a set of benchmarks relating to the monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity offsets. All told it is a flexible document with a range of important uses. BS 868 will be used by businesses to: Demonstrate delivery of biodiversity best practices Give clients, commissioning agencies, and other stakeholders confidence that processes are in place that will help secure voluntary or relevant local planning or contractual requirements relating to biodiversity net gain outcomes Ensure that internal processes and procedures are in place to help deliver BNG as stipulated by commissioning agencies, clients, and consenting bodies Help evidence the satisfactory discharge of planning conditions or the meeting of appropriate regulatory requirements relating to biodiversity net gain outcomes Help differentiate and avoid accusations of ‘greenwash’ that could compromise biodiversity net gain approaches Help enhance consistency across projects for organizations running multiple projects, minimizing the risk of error and driving consistency of approach Enable planning authorities and clients to specify the consistent delivery of biodiversity net gain processes among developers or contractors operating within their territory or on their behalf Add to brand value by demonstrating that the organization delivering to the standard is following an evidenced and credible approach and has robust processes in place Want to have access to all your sustainability standards in one place? A BSI Knowledge subscription gives you instant access to the resources you need to improve your sustainability processes. The flexibility and visibility it provides of the best practice guidance enables you and your team to get the most from standards - from biodiversity to waste management. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM06 Environment & Waste module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your sustainability strategy. Request to learn more. Add standard BS 8683:2021 to your collection today.Read more
Biodiversity standards for planning and development
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Biodiversity standards for planning and development

Biodiversity strategies are in place for England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales, with the general objective to halt the overall loss of biodiversity. This will require taking better account of biodiversity in public and private sector decision-making. This means taking a structured approach to planning for nature and at every stage of the planning process from before applying for permission, to construction. The Importance of Incorporating Biodiversity into Planning and Development High-quality ecological information is important for: Effective decision-making, including local planning decisions Compliance with statutory obligations and policy requirements Successful implementation of practical conservation and enhancement measures during development The achievement of desired outcomes Effective decision-making over biodiversity provides: Certainty and clarity for developers, local planning authorities, and other regulatory bodies Sufficient information with which to identify and track cumulative biodiversity outcomes (e.g. net losses and gains arising from all planning decisions) Greater confidence for all stakeholders that decisions and proposed actions involving biodiversity conservation are transparent, fair, adequate, and legally sound Reduced likelihood of a planning appeal or legal challenge BS 42020 – A Code of Practice for Biodiversity in Planning and Development BS 42020 is a standard developed by BSI in association with biodiversity experts and stakeholders from across all sectors. The standard provides clear recommendations and guidance to ensure that actions and decisions taken at each stage of the planning process are informed by sufficient and appropriate ecological information. BS 42020 also provides guidance on the planning process and consent regimes in the UK, and on statutory obligations and planning guidance that relate to biodiversity. Also listed are; professional bodies with relevant codes of conduct suggested pro formas for net loss or gain of biodiversity, model planning conditions, and forms for reports on European protected species. This standard, therefore, seeks to: Promote transparency and consistency in the quality and appropriateness of ecological information submitted with planning applications, and applications for other regulatory approvals Give planning authorities and other regulatory bodies greater confidence in the information when they consider proposals for development that potentially affects biodiversity Encourage proportionality and a good environmental legacy following development High standards of professional practice are essential for the successful integration of biodiversity into the planning and development process. BS 42020 gives recommendations on professional ethics, conduct, competence, and judgment that are intended to give confidence that proposals for biodiversity conservation, and consequent decisions/actions taken, are sound and appropriate. Biodiversity professionals have to work collaboratively with all other disciplines in the planning and development process, to find a course of action that balances the needs of the developer with the constraints of statutory obligations, local planning policy, and the biodiversity of the site. To learn about our new standard on biodiversity net gain, click here. Incorporating Biodiversity Management into each Stage of Development Incorporating biodiversity management into each stage of the planning process is essential to avoid unnecessary costs and delays at later stages. BS 42020 makes appropriate recommendations for the various stages of the planning process, as follows: Pre-application Design considerations for biodiversity Ecological surveys and assessments Preparation of ecological reports Non-technical summaries Validation and registration Validation and registration Adequate information Decision-making Quality decision-making Professional scrutiny Consultation Adequate information Determination Planning conditions Planning obligations Other consent regimes Implementation/Construction Construction environmental management plan Long-term management Ecological monitoring Want to have access to all your sustainability standards in one place? A BSI Knowledge subscription gives you instant access to the resources you need to improve your sustainability processes. The flexibility and visibility it provides of the best practices guidance enable you and your team to get the most from standards - from biodiversity to waste management. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM06 Environment & Waste module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your sustainability strategy. Request to learn more. Ensure your organization has a structured approach to planning for nature by adding standard BS 42020 to your collection today.

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