A response from the British Ecological Society to Defra's "net gain" consultation.
Abstract
This paper describes the response from the British Ecological Society to Defra's "net gain" consultation. The Net Gain consultation is seeking views on how to improve the planning system in England to protect the environment and build places to live and work. It is an approach to development that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than beforehand. Development that adopts a biodiversity net gain approach seeks to make its impact on the environment positive, delivering improvements through habitat creation or enhancement after avoiding or mitigating harm as far as possible. In this paper, a total of 45 questions were answered in response to Defra's "net gain" consultation.