Managing Invasive Non-Native Plant Species: Making the Most of Biodiversity Net Gain (by Schofield, Hicks, Docking and Wade) (In Practice 127, March 2025)

This article appeared in the March 2025 edition of In Practice magazine.

Managing Invasive Non-Native Plant Species: Making the Most of Biodiversity Net Gain
Richard Schofield, James Hicks, Daniel Docking and Max Wade
In Practice 127, March 2025

It is well known that invasive non-native species are one of the top drivers of biodiversity loss. So how does Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in England help to deal with invasive non-native plants (INNPs) listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) 1981 (as amended)?

This article explores how invasive plant management is integrated into the BNG assessment process in England, how the process can be improved to make more of the opportunity to deal with INNPs, and how to integrate the roles of ecologist and invasive plant management contractor to ensure sustainable outcomes. This is based in part on feedback from the INNP and BNG workshop at the CIEEM Autumn 2024 conference.