The enhanced biodiversity duty and monitoring
The enhanced biodiversity duty
The Environment Act 2021 introduced a strengthened biodiversity duty which applies to all public authorities in England. Local authorities must consider what they can do to conserve and enhance biodiversity. In advance of the formal reporting period, in 2024, all local authorities were required to publish evidence to demonstrate how the council was meeting the enhanced biodiversity duty. The table prepared at that time is linked below:
The report will include a summary of how the biodiversity net gain (BNG) obligations have been met, details of BNG resulting (or expected to result) from approved biodiversity gain plans, and how the council plans to meet BNG obligations. The report will set out:
- actions taken to conserve and enhance biodiversity
- achievements resulting from our actions
- actions we plan to take in the next reporting period
The first deadline is for a reporting period ending no later than January 1, 2026, with publication expected within 12 weeks of that period's end (i.e. around late March 2026). When prepared, the report will be linked below.
Biodiversity and Planning Impact Review
The Biodiversity and Planning Impact Review (previously known as the Annual Monitoring Report) is a product provided by the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre to all local authorities in East and West Sussex on a yearly basis. It is a retrospective look at the impacts on biodiversity of approved new build planning applications for the financial year. The latest published review and related datasets are linked below: