Biodiversity duties in Wales without a net gain requirement
Schedule 7A to the Environment Act 2021 applies to England. In Wales, biodiversity is handled through the section 6 duty on the decision maker and a net benefit expectation in national policy.
Wales has no mandatory ten per cent biodiversity net gain requirement. The statutory regime in Schedule 7A to the Environment Act 2021, with its biodiversity gain condition, statutory metric and 30-year management obligation, applies to England. If you are promoting a scheme in Wales, biodiversity net gain in Wales works through a duty on the planning authority under section 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and a net benefit expectation in Planning Policy Wales, not through a numerical condition on your permission.
That is not the softer option some developers assume. The duty bites at the decision, and an application that cannot show a net benefit for biodiversity can be refused on that ground alone.
This article covers Wales. English sites follow a different regime entirely.
The section 6 biodiversity and resilience duty
Section 6 of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 requires a public authority, in exercising its functions in relation to Wales, to seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity so far as consistent with the proper exercise of those functions, and in doing so to promote the resilience of ecosystems.
Two features of the drafting matter to applicants. First, resilience is defined by reference to diversity, extent, condition and connectivity between habitats, so a proposal that protects a habitat parcel while severing it from everything around it does not satisfy the duty. Second, the duty falls on the authority, not on you. The authority discharges it through its decision, which means the evidence has to reach the case officer in a form they can use in the report.
Section 7 of the same Act requires Welsh Ministers to publish lists of living organisms and habitats of principal importance for maintaining and improving biodiversity in Wales. Those lists replace the section 41 list used in England. Check the section 7 list rather than the English one when scoping surveys, because the content differs.
Authorities must also publish a plan setting out how they will comply and report on it periodically, which is why many Welsh councils now have a published biodiversity duty plan that tells you exactly what their planning service expects.
How authorities apply the duty to applications
In practice the duty is applied through a step-wise approach set out in Planning Policy Wales: avoid harm first, then minimise it, then mitigate what remains, then compensate as a last resort, and only then consider whether a net benefit has been achieved.
Case officers work down that sequence in order. An application that jumps to compensation without evidencing avoidance will be sent back, whatever the final numbers look like. This is the single most common reason Welsh ecology evidence gets rejected.
The duty also applies to the authority's own pre-application advice and to conditions. Expect to see conditions securing a landscape and ecological management plan, timing restrictions on vegetation clearance, and monitoring, rather than a gain plan approval of the kind used in England. Our longer treatment of the section 6 duty in Welsh planning decisions goes through how officers word the report.
The net benefit expectation in Welsh policy
Planning Policy Wales requires development to secure a net benefit for biodiversity and states that proposals causing significant loss of habitats or populations of species, locally or nationally, will not be permitted unless the need for and benefits of the development clearly outweigh that loss. Verify the current edition on gov.wales before you cite chapter or paragraph numbers, because Planning Policy Wales is revised more often than the equivalent English document.
Net benefit is not defined as a percentage. That is the practical difference. In England you either hit the number or you do not. In Wales the authority has to be persuaded, on the evidence in front of it, that the site will support more and better connected biodiversity after development than before.
Some Welsh authorities have adopted a metric voluntarily in their local development plan or supplementary planning guidance, and a few ask for a percentage figure as supporting evidence. Ask at pre-application which approach the authority takes. Running a metric where none is required is wasted cost, and offering a bare percentage where the authority wants a habitat-by-habitat narrative will not land either.
Evidence expected with an application
The usual pack for a Welsh scheme of any scale:
- A preliminary ecological appraisal following the CIEEM guidelines, with an extended phase 1 habitat survey or a UK Habitat Classification survey of the site and a suitable buffer.
- Protected species surveys where the appraisal identifies potential, carried out in season and to the relevant published survey standard.
- A green infrastructure statement, which Planning Policy Wales expects for many applications and which sets out how green infrastructure has been designed in from the start.
- A landscape and ecological management plan, or heads of terms for one, showing who maintains what and for how long.
- A statement addressing the section 6 duty directly, so the officer can lift the reasoning into the committee or delegated report.
That last item is the one most often missing. Writing a short section that walks through avoid, minimise, mitigate, compensate and net benefit, with a sentence on each, saves the officer work and makes refusal harder to justify. A preliminary ecological appraisal is the document that normally carries it.
Where this differs from the English statutory regime
| Feature | England | Wales |
|---|---|---|
| Legal basis | Schedule 7A, Environment Act 2021 | Section 6, Environment (Wales) Act 2016 |
| Form of requirement | Condition on most permissions | Duty on the decision maker, plus policy expectation |
| Numerical target | Ten per cent gain | None set nationally |
| Metric | Statutory biodiversity metric | No statutory metric |
| Post-consent document | Biodiversity gain plan approved by the authority | Landscape and ecological management plan by condition |
| Management period | 30 years | Set case by case through condition or obligation |
| Species list | Section 41, NERC Act 2006 | Section 7, Environment (Wales) Act 2016 |
Read across from an English scheme carefully. A biodiversity net gain assessment prepared for an English site uses the statutory metric and the English species list, and neither transfers. In England the metric must be completed by a competent person under the Environment Act 2021 regime, and in Wales any protected species work requires a suitably licensed ecologist under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. A drafted report is a starting point for that professional, never a substitute.
Ecological survey expectations in Wales
Survey seasons are the same as in England because they follow the ecology, not the border. Bat emergence surveys between May and September, great crested newt eDNA sampling between 15 April and 30 June, reptile surveys in the spring and early autumn, breeding bird surveys between March and August.
Natural Resources Wales is the statutory nature conservation body and the licensing authority for European protected species in Wales. Its standing advice and its consultation responses carry weight with authorities, and its position on a site is worth establishing before you fix the layout.
Where a site lies near a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Area of Conservation or a Special Protection Area, the habitats regulations assessment process applies as it does in England, and nutrient and phosphate limits on several Welsh river Special Areas of Conservation have held up housing consents. Check the catchment position early. Working through the section 6 duty in practice alongside the catchment constraint is usually a pre-application conversation, not a submission one.
Securing measures by condition or obligation
Without a statutory gain condition, Welsh authorities rely on ordinary conditions and section 106 obligations. Expect a condition requiring a landscape and ecological management plan before work starts, a condition fixing the timing of clearance outside the bird nesting season, and a condition requiring installation of features such as bat and bird boxes before occupation.
Longer management periods and off-site provision are handled through an obligation. There is no statutory 30-year default, so the period is negotiable and you should propose one rather than wait for the authority to name a number.
PlanScope's drafting is grounded in English national policy and English local plans, so a Welsh application needs the reviewer to check Planning Policy Wales and the relevant Technical Advice Notes before submission. Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which report types a site is likely to need, then have the ecology work done by a suitably qualified ecologist.
This is general guidance, not legal advice. Check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.
Frequently asked questions
Does biodiversity net gain apply in Wales?
Not as a statutory percentage. Schedule 7A to the Environment Act 2021, which creates the ten per cent gain condition and the statutory metric, extends to England. Welsh applications are handled through the section 6 duty in the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and the net benefit expectation in Planning Policy Wales, which sets no national figure.
Who does the section 6 duty apply to?
It applies to public authorities exercising functions in relation to Wales, which includes local planning authorities when they determine applications. The duty is not imposed on the developer directly. In practice you discharge it by putting evidence in front of the case officer that lets the authority show it has complied when it writes the report.
Which species list should I use for a Welsh site?
Use the section 7 list of living organisms and habitats of principal importance published under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016. The section 41 list made under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 applies in England, and the two differ. Scoping surveys against the wrong list is a common error on cross-border portfolios.
Will a Welsh council accept the statutory biodiversity metric?
Some will, and a few authorities ask for a metric figure through local policy or supplementary planning guidance. There is no national requirement to run one. Ask at pre-application which approach the authority takes, because a metric output offered where the officer wants a habitat-by-habitat narrative will not answer the point.
How are biodiversity measures secured in Wales?
Through ordinary planning conditions and section 106 obligations rather than a statutory gain plan. Expect conditions requiring a landscape and ecological management plan before work starts, clearance outside the bird nesting season, and installation of features before occupation. Management periods are negotiable, so propose one instead of waiting for a figure.
Sources and further reading
This article is general guidance about the planning system in England and, where stated, the rest of the UK. It is not legal or professional advice. Check your local planning authority’s validation requirements and take professional advice for your specific site.