Habitat Banking Birmingham: Planning and Development

Habitat banking is a conservation tool that allows developers to compensate for unavoidable impacts on habitats by creating or restoring nature and habitats elsewhere. It operates through the creation of credits, which represent a certain amount of habitat. Developers can purchase credits to offset the impacts of their projects on natural areas.

The goal of habitat banking is to conserve and manage habitats and ecosystems in a sustainable manner. This approach helps to improve biodiversity net gain (BNG) and local nature recovery whilst mitigating any negative environmental impacts a development may have.

Habitat banking is being used more frequently for developments in Birmingham to meet biodiversity requirements for planning permission. At Collington Winter, our team of ecologists will work with you to secure habitat banking for your development. We will create the best outcome for nature in your location.

Habitat banking can offer land owners an opportunity to generate passive income by participating in conservation efforts and providing ecosystem services on their land. Land owners can generate biodiversity offset credits through habitat creation and enhancement on their land. These credits can be sold to developers or other entities required to achieve biodiversity net gain targets.

If a proposed development cannot provide biodiversity net gain on site, purchasing these credits as a result of habitat banking can help to meet the requirements made by a local planning authority. By requiring habitat banking, local authorities aim to ensure that development projects do not negatively impact the natural environment. This will also contribute to the long term preservation of natural resources for a minimum of 30 years required in the Environment Act 2021.

Habitat banking provides multiple benefits for both land owners and developers, as land owners can generate income from their land while retaining ownership of it and developers can purchase the credits generated to ensure that their development achieves planning permission.

At Collington Winter, our team of ecologists and land managers have the knowledge and experience necessary to assist developers in meeting habitat banking Birmingham requirements. Our team can assess your development site to determine which habitat banking methods would be suitable.

Please get in touch if you would like further information about habitat banking in Birmingham. Our Ecology Director, Olivia Collington, holds a Natural England license. If you would like to find out more about the services we provide, feel free to contact us using the details below.