22/10/2025
How Biodiversity Net Gain is causing Ancient Woodland Loss 😔
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is a planning policy requiring most new developments in England to deliver a minimum of 10% net gain in biodiversity value compared to before development. In theory, this sounds great, but in practical use it is often falling short, damaging local wildlife and removing green spaces from where they’re needed most!
How BNG fails to protect ancient woodlands:
For BNG’s formulas to work, BNG needs to treat habitats as replaceable and quantifiable to assign them a metric. BNG assumes habitats can be picked up and moved if enough biodiversity units are created to approve their criteria.
But ancient woodland cannot be recreated — its soils, seed bank, and ecological complexity of rare species develop over centuries. They are named as “irreplacable” within government frameworks. So how do you choose a score for “replicability” for something which is, by definition, irreplacable?
Currently, ancient woodlands are “protected” only under planning policy, which says development should be refused if it results in loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats “unless there are wholly exceptional reasons”. This leaves the decision to destroy ancient woodlands in the hands of local councils, who decide what a wholly exceptional reason is. For example, a new road, HS2, housing developments in a housing crisis...
This is one of the key loopholes Ancient Woodlands UK are fighting to close. At 2.4% of ancient woodland coverage in the UK, we cannot afford to lose any more of this rare and special habitat. Please help us save ancient woodlands by following, sharing our message and donating to the link in our bio ❤️
