6th February 2025
Under the Environment Act 2021, Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) must publish their first biodiversity report by 26 March 2026 – meaning that the work to compile these reports must start this year.
These reports are expected to include quantitative data on the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) impacts of every development approved since mandatory BNG began in early 2024. This is a complex task, involving gathering and analysing data across thousands of habitats.
How can LPAs carry this out effectively and efficiently? This article shares information on what’s needed, and how best to go about it.
What BNG data should be reported, and when?
Each LPA’s first biodiversity report must cover a reporting period ending no later than 1 January 2026, and the report must be published within 12 weeks of the period’s end (see government guidance on these requirements). So for a reporting period ending 1 January 2026, the publication deadline is 26 March 2026.
Defra has shared a draft template spreadsheet, which provides guidance on quantitative BNG data reporting.
You can download the draft Defra template here. This template is not finalised, so may evolve, but it provides a clear and helpful sense of government’s expectations.
It covers 270 data points over 8 worksheets, including information on the quantitative biodiversity gains (measured in Biodiversity Units) associated with each development and split in various ways – e.g. by habitat type, and by whether gains are on-site or off-site.
The Defra template requires the compilation and analysis of a great deal of granular information, at the level of individual habitats and developments. This is a good approach: For councils to get the most from BNG, maximising nature benefits for their communities, they need a strong handle on how, when, and where gains are delivered.
This level of analysis and transparency is also likely to be demanded by councillors and the public, as is beginning to be seen in the Freedom of Information requests and Environmental Information Regulations requests already being received.
Tips to prepare for BNG data reporting
Based on our discussions with councils across the country, and other experts in the field, here are three top tips to get ready:
1. Make sure you collect the necessary data for each development
You will need granular information on the quantitative biodiversity gains for every habitat in every development.
This means you need to keep track of the final, consented Biodiversity Metric for each development – i.e. the Metric required to discharge the statutory BNG planning condition alongside the Biodiversity Gain Plan.
2. Plan how to go from data collection to report publication within the 12-week deadline
The reported data must be up-to-date, with a maximum time lag of 12 weeks before publication.
This means you will need to go through all the steps required within this timescale, including data collation, analysis, write-up, and internal approvals.
Key to this will be having a plan to make the data work quick and easy.
3. Use software to automate days’ worth of data wrangling
For a human to extract the many data points required from each individual Biodiversity Metric, and then combine them in the various ways needed, is likely to involve days’ worth of copying, pasting, and spreadsheet construction. Software can do this instantly.
Verna’s Mycelia software captures data for each development in seconds, and will populate the Defra template spreadsheet automatically with no manual data analysis required.
LPAs across the country have adopted Mycelia to help with all aspects of BNG, and Mycelia can be used at zero cost to the LPA via BNG monitoring fees.
The start of a new era?
BNG data reporting is a paradigm shift in how local changes to nature and land are measured and tracked.
This could open a new vista of opportunities for environmental improvement. For example, the detailed data on habitat-level changes could be used to estimate other benefits – such as carbon sequestration, flood alleviation, urban cooling, and people’s access to greenspace.
We’ll keep working with LPAs to help unlock these benefits, through continuous development of Mycelia’s capabilities.
Get in touch
If you have any questions about BNG reporting, or would like to see a demo of Mycelia, please feel free to reach out on mycelia@verna.earth.