Civity are a new way to get funding for nature, like carbon credits do with emissions. They put a financial value on plants and wildlife to drive public and private spending into nature restoration. They are based on scientifically agreed measures of biodiversity.
Ecologists can carry out a baseline survey to measure the current condition of wildlife habitat on your land. Then they can suggest a strategy to create or restore onsite, or offsite, to hit the 10% target. They can also advise on securing legal agreements (such as planning obligations or conservation covenants) with local planners or Defra to ensure the habitat will be protected into the future.
Incentivizing Conservation: The Benefits of Biodiversity Net Gain Credits
The DEFRA 3.1 metric is just a starter package – there are more detailed systems that will help you to be more efficient. These include the more rigorous Habitats Directive 3.1 methodology, and a range of spreadsheet-based biodiversity calculators.
If offsetting isn’t possible, a developer can use the national net gain sites register and/or purchase statutory biodiversity credits as an alternative. This is a mitigation hierarchy, not an excuse to build developments that would otherwise be unacceptable.
For a developer to buy BUs, they must have the right management plan in place. This must be agreed with the landowner, and be endorsed by a responsible body to demonstrate that the BUs are being created in accordance with the plan. This includes demonstrating that the agreement is in force, and that the landowner meets all the other requirements (e.g. agreement type/duration etc).