BNG GLOSSARY

BNG glossary.

Plain-English definitions for the Biodiversity Net Gain terms landowners, developers and advisers use most often.

BNG RESOURCE · UPDATED 26 JULY 2026

Decision-ready guidance for England's BNG market.

A planning-linked requirement for development to deliver a measurable biodiversity improvement compared with the baseline.

A standardised metric output representing habitat value, condition, distinctiveness, area, time, difficulty and location factors.

A land project that creates or enhances habitat and supplies off-site biodiversity units to development.

Land legally secured and managed to deliver biodiversity gain for at least the required management period.

A Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan describing how habitat will be created, maintained, monitored and reported.

A planning obligation route that can secure off-site BNG delivery with a local planning authority.

A legal agreement with a responsible body that can secure conservation obligations on land.

Government credits used only as a last resort where on-site and off-site options are not available.

COMMON QUESTIONS

BNG is a specific planning regime with metric, hierarchy, legal and registration requirements.

A metric-derived biodiversity unit used to quantify habitat loss and gain.

Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan.

RELATED BNG GUIDES