The CIEEM Net Benefit for Biodiversity Working Group was established in October 2024. This group has been set up to produce national guidance for ecologists and environmental managers to assess and deliver Net Benefit for Biodiversity (NBB) in Wales, through use of the DECCA framework as a method for assessing NBB on proposed development projects as a planning duty under Planning Policy for Wales (PPW) 12.
The group is led by AtkinsRéalis in collaboration with CIEEM and Welsh Government.
It is comprised of highly experienced individuals from a range of organisations that are tasked with helping develop this further, through contributions on feedback to drafted guidance and participation in organised workshops and meetings.
NBB is an approach which requires that development leave biodiversity and the resilience of ecosystems in a better state than before by securing immediate and long-term, measurable, and demonstrable benefit, primarily on or immediately adjacent to the development site.
Whilst similar in concept to Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in England, NBB incorporates distinct reference to ecosystem resilience, the StepWise Approach within PPW 12, and consideration of how the site relates to surrounding ecosystems and biodiversity.
NBB encourages development proposals to proactively maintain and enhance biodiversity and ecosystems with a firm focus on exhausting the options for avoidance measures before considering minimisation and, finally, mitigation of impacts within the context of the site. Offsite mitigation and compensation are a last resort, and NBB is embedded within each step of the process.