Ardent launches Land for Nature team to support infrastructure delivery of nature recovery and mandatory BNG

We’re pleased to announce the formation of our dedicated Land for Nature: BNG & Environmental Land Assembly for major projects team, designed to help nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs) navigate the growing requirements around land assembly and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), and to do so in a way that supports meaningful nature recovery. 

The introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) under the Environment Act 2021 requires developments to deliver a minimum 10% uplift in biodiversity. In practice, this means creating or enhancing habitats so that they are in a measurably better state for wildlife than before development. 

With the UK Government extending this requirement to NSIP applications submitted after the November 2026 go-live date, project promoters are increasingly needing to integrate BNG into scheme design, consenting strategies and delivery planning at a much earlier stage. Many NSIPs are already voluntarily aligning with local planning policy requirements, but the scale and complexity of future obligations makes a more structured, land-led approach essential. 

At Ardent, our Land for Nature: BNG & Environmental Land Assembly for major projects team brings together our established expertise in land assembly and Development Consent Orders (DCOs) with a deep understanding of environmental land use and biodiversity policy. Our focus is on helping clients develop practical, cost-effective and deliverable strategies that resolve the BNG challenge early, rather than leaving it to later stages of the consenting process. 

Our strength lies in bridging the gap between ecological assessment and delivery on the ground. By combining specialist land referencing, negotiation capability and consenting experience, we help ensure the right land, agreements and delivery mechanisms are secured in the right place and at the right time. 

Our core services include: 

• Land assembly and optioneering for BNG and environmental mitigation delivery  
• Negotiation of BNG and habitat agreements with landowners and habitat banks  
• Advanced cost modelling and assessment to support project budgets  
• Integration of BNG requirements into wider land acquisition and consenting strategies  
• Support through DCO examination and hearing stages  
• We are proud to already be supporting a range of major infrastructure and public sector clients, including East West Rail Phase 3, Suffolk County Council, Cory, Norfolk Vanguard and Thames Water. 

As Mark Warnett, Director at Ardent, explains: 

“BNG is a powerful policy tool for NSIPs to restore nature, but it isn’t just an ecological calculation, it’s a land assembly challenge.” 

“We sit in the critical space between the ecologist’s assessment and the developer’s land strategy.” 

“When BNG is not embedded early at pre-application stage, projects are exposed to avoidable consenting risk, programme delay, inflated costs or last-minute reliance on statutory credits. Our Land for Nature team works with project teams and ecologists to develop creative, deliverable strategies, and with landowners, contractors and habitat banks to make them real.”