Heathland at Hengistbury Head (Mark Holloway)
All local authorities (excluding parish councils) and local planning authorities are required by law to publish their first biodiversity report by 26 March 2026.
Against the background of the UK government’s 25 Year Environment Plan (2018-2043) – which made a commitment to leave the environment “in a better state than we found it” within a generation – the 2021 Environment Act introduced a wide range of responsibilities in relation to biodiversity. It requires the development of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (Dorset Local Nature Recovery Strategy 2025 | Dorset Council), and strengthened the Biodiversity Duty on all public bodies to consider how we can conserve and enhance biodiversity in our actions and decision-making.
The Biodiversity Duty involves developing policies and objectives based on those considerations, taking action to implement and achieve them and, for all local authorities (excluding parish councils), includes the statutory requirement to report how we have met our Biodiversity Duty. The first reporting deadline was 1 January 2026.
At BCP Council we are pleased to have submitted our first Biodiversity report to Defra, for the period 2022-2025, and to make it available on this website.
In our report we explain the policies and objectives we’ve set to meet our Biodiversity Duty, describing actions taken, either alone or in partnership, to protect and enhance biodiversity. We have also taken the opportunity to showcase some of our successes and reflect on challenges.
As a planning authority, we have included a report including quantitative data on the BNG impacts of developments approved since mandatory BNG began in early 2024.
All our report documentation is explained and available to download now at BCP Biodiversity Report 2025 | BCP Projects
The reporting period covers the last 3 years to November 2025. The next report is required within 5 years of the date of issue.
