Richard Marsh, Principal Biodiversity Officer for Leeds City Council will talk us through the challenges of the 10% Biodiversity Net Gain.

The requirement for a 10% Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) for most developments in England was introduced in 2024, under the Environment Act 2021 (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.legislation.gov.uk%2Fukpga%2F2021%2F30%2Fcontents&data=05%7C02%7Cm.berthetmeylan%40leeds.ac.uk%7C08bcf50e412e4ca6204e08df3f425034%7Cbdeaeda8c81d45ce863e5232a535b7cb%7C0%7C0%7C639299226189205686%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=aV0cDmFFNzXN7JOWqgJNWyTpsPFxelzd2v%2FC9%2BaKQmQ%3D&reserved=0). Whilst the policy aims to respond to the biodiversity crisis by mitigating the impact of developments, it has quickly become apparent that more and more exemptions have been introduced, and also that off-site delivery of BNG anywhere in England has become common practice.

Richard Marsh, Principal Biodiversity Officer for Leeds City Council, is at the forefront of the practical challenges of introducing BNG. He will give us his critical approach as a practitioner, addressing the difficulties of monitoring biodiversity as an off-site market, and discussing the efficiency of monetising ecosystem services.

This talk is a guest lecture, as part of the MSc Ecological Economics at the University of Leeds.

Description supplied by the event organiser.