Exploring the challenges and opportunities in Biodiversity Net Gain delivery: insights from developers, conservationists, local people and authorities.

Abstract

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), introduced under the Environment Act 2021, represents a significant shift in English planning policy by mandating that development delivers a minimum 10% improvement in biodiversity value. While the policy framework is well defined, there remains limited empirical understanding of how BNG is experienced and implemented in practice, particularly during its early mandatory phase. This study addresses this gap by examining how key actors involved in BNG delivery interpret, negotiate and experience the policy in real-world planning contexts. Using a qualitative, multi-actor research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants, including developers, local planning authority officers, conservation professionals and local residents. The data was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, enabling comparison of perspectives within and across actor groups. The findings reveal that BNG implementation is shaped by interconnected financial, institutional, ecological and social constraints. Developers face viability pressures and metric uncertainty that encourage minimum-compliance strategies, while local authorities identify capacity shortages as a critical bottleneck for validation and long-term monitoring. Conservation professionals express concern that metric-driven delivery risks undermining ecological quality, and local residents remain largely excluded from decision-making despite strong support for biodiversity enhancement once informed. Cross-cutting analysis highlights fragmented understanding of BNG requirements, reactive communication, and a shared demand for clearer guidance and accessible digital tools. The study demonstrates that BNG outcomes emerge not solely from policy design, but from social and institutional processes that structure coordination, accountability and power. By foregrounding lived experiences during early mandatory implementation, this research contributes empirical evidence to debates on environmental governance and offers actionable insights for improving the ecological effectiveness, procedural fairness and long-term legitimacy of Biodiversity Net Gain.