The size of habitat parcels allocated in the Biodiversity Gain Site to meet the offsite BNG requirements of specific developments.
An Application Programming Interface is a set of rules and protocols that allows different software systems to communicate and exchange data with each other in a standardized way, without users needing to know the intricate details of how each system is built.
The pre-existing habitat of a site before that site is developed.
The size of the baseline habitat.
The unique identifier assigned to each registered Biodiversity Gain Site.
The number of Biodiversity Gain Sites which have this habitat.
An area of land or habitat designated to create or enhance habitats for wildlife, leading to a measurable increase in biodiversity. Only sites listed on the BGS Register are eligible for this designation.
Habitat condition is a measure of the state of a habitat and is used to measure variation between parcels of the same habitat type. Condition is often linked to past management, present management, and land use.
A measure which represents the uncertainty in the effectiveness of management techniques used to enhance or create habitat.
The distance from the development site to the BGS offset site.
Distinctiveness is a measure based on the type of habitat and its distinguishing features. The biodiversity metric tool automatically assigns distinctiveness category to habitats.
An environment or area that supports living organisms, including plants, animals and fungi.
Used to describe relative biodiversity value. There are three types of biodiversity units: area habitat units, hedgerow units and watercourse units.
The gain in Habitat Units, calculated by subtracting the relevant baseline HUs for each improved habitat parcel.
An official measure used in England to assess relative deprivation in small geographic areas by combining data from seven different domains: Income, Employment, Education, Skills and Training, Health Deprivation and Disability, Crime, Barriers to Housing and Services, and Living Environment. The IMD helps identify areas with high concentrations of different types of deprivation, allowing users to understand and compare levels of disadvantage across the country.
The IMD transfer decile score moving from the development site to the BGS offset site.
The planned habitat after improvements are made.
The number of sites being improved.
The size of the habitat improved.
The type of Improvement, either Enhancement for condition improvements, or Creation for habitat type changes.
An England-wide system of spatial strategies required by the Environment Act 2021 that identifies priorities and maps proposals for nature recovery at the local level. These strategies are designed to map existing important habitats, identify areas for new or improved habitats, set out priorities for action, and integrate with the planning system to support wider environmental benefits like biodiversity, flood management, carbon storage, and water quality.
A local government body, often a council department, responsible for managing land use and development in a specific area. Its functions include deciding on planning applications, preparing and implementing local plans, and enforcing planning policies to ensure that development is sustainable and balances economic, environmental and social considerations.
The smallest geographic unit used in England and Wales for statistical purposes, typically comprising 1,000 to 3,000 residents and 400 to 1,200 households.
A distinctive and recognisable unit of England's landscape, defined by a unique sense of place resulting from its specific natural, cultural and economic features. NCAs follow the natural lines of the landscape, rather than administrative boundaries like counties, making them a useful framework for planning and decision making for landscape and environmental projects. There are 159 NCAs in England, and each has a detailed profile outlining its characteristics and how it functions and can be sustained.
A linked area of habitat of the same distinctiveness, condition and strategic significance.
An organisation designated by Defra to hold and administer conservation covenants for BNG projects, monitoring and enforcing habitat improvement plans to ensure long-term conservation.
See Conservation covenants: criteria for being a responsible body guidance.
The pre-existing habitat of a site that is not being altered as part of the site's development.
Sankey diagrams are a data visualisation technique or flow diagram that emphasises flow/movement/change from one state to another or one time to another, in which the width of the arrows is proportional to the flow rate of the depicted transformation.
The size of the habitat parcel to be retained, enhanced, created, or lost. Size is measured in hectares for area habitat or in kilometres for linear habitat.
The total area, in hectares, of a Biodiversity Gain Site.
The Spatial Risk multiplier (SRM) reflects the relationship between the location of onsite biodiversity loss and the location of off-site habitat compensation. It affects the number of biodiversity units provided to a project by penalising proposals where offsite habitat is located at distance from the impact site.
Strategic Significance is the local significance of the habitat based on its location and habitat type.
The Temporal Risk multiplier represents the average time lag between the start of habitat creation or enhancement works and the target outcome year.
The Time to Target condition is measured in years. The Temporal Risk multiplier is based on number of years input.
The trading rules set minimum habitat creation and enhancement requirements to compensate for specific habitat losses, up to the point of no net loss. They are based on the habitat type and distinctiveness of the lost habitat.
UKHab (UK Habitat Classification) offers a comprehensive, standardized, and hierarchical system designed for surveying and mapping terrestrial and freshwater habitats across the UK. It provides a modern, 5-level, GIS-compatible framework essential for Biodiversity Net Gain assessments, environmental impact studies, and conservation planning.