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:
Biodiversity Duty Report 2026
The strengthened biodiversity duty under section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (the NERC Act), as amended by the Environment Act 2021, introduced a legal requirement for all public authorities in England to consider what action they can take, consistent with the proper exercise of their functions, to conserve and enhance biodiversity. The biodiversity duty requires Arun District Council to report on its actions in relation to the strengthened duty.
The report conforms to the reporting structure set out in the biodiversity duty reporting guidance and covers the period from 1 January 2023 to 1 January 2026.
The report captures key achievements by Arun District Council and data on the delivery of Biodiversity Net Gain, and its sections explore Arun's current policy, strategies, engagement, monitoring, future actions and challenges.
The Excel document collates statistical information on Biodiversity Net Gain from planning applications during the reporting period.
Biodiversity Duty Report 2026[pdf] 573KB
Biodiversity Duty Report - 12 Feb 2024 to 01 Jan 2026 [xlsx] 48KB
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: