Other Rivers and Streams BNG Units
Medium
Watercourse
Trusted by Developers and Landowners
What is
Other Rivers and Streams
Other rivers and streams are flowing watercourses that do not fall within priority habitat types such as chalk rivers, headwaters or shingle rivers, and are not artificial waterbodies like canals, culverts or ditches. They include the majority of channels across England where natural processes can still operate to some degree, supporting riffles, pools, exposed sediments, submerged plants and riparian vegetation.
Why It Matters for BNG
Restoring river margins and hydrology delivers significant biodiversity value and helps meet strategic BNG objectives. River enhancement supports wider catchment resilience.
Protecting riparian zones, bankside vegetation and natural processes creates long term BNG opportunities while improving water quality and soil stability on farmland.
Where Are They Found?
• Across lowland and upland catchments with a mix of permeable and less-permeable geology
• Through farmed floodplains, valley bottoms and urban fringes
• Within river networks where longitudinal and floodplain connectivity can be restored or maintained
How New River Habitat Is Created From Scratch
Inputs
• Re-establish an open channel with varied depths and some baseflow where feasible
• Use natural bed materials appropriate to local flows and sediment supply
• Provide a vegetated riparian corridor on both banks to buffer run-off and form functional edges
Management
• Avoid over-engineering; allow self-forming banks and bed features where risk allows
• Manage water demand and abstraction to protect seasonal flow patterns
• Identify and control invasive non-native species in the corridor and channel
Landscape
• Design for connectivity along the channel and to the floodplain where safe to do so
• Plan an erodible corridor with set-back lines so limited channel movement can occur
• Introduce riparian trees in treeless reaches to create a patchwork of light and shade and provide woody material over time
Target Condition
Other rivers and streams in good condition typically shows:
• Natural channel forms with a mix of biotopes such as riffles, runs and pools
• A functioning riparian zone with native vegetation and a patchwork of light and shade
• Good water quality with low visible pollution and adequate oxygen
• Banks that are stable overall but allow small-scale erosion and deposition to create habitat
• Connectivity for aquatic species along the channel and, where feasible, between river and floodplain
• Low levels of invasive non-native species with effective control in place
The BNG Value of
Other Rivers and Streams
• Distinctiveness: High
• Condition potential: Strong where natural processes and riparian buffers are restored
• Connectivity: Critical corridors for plants and animals across catchments
• Climate services: Attenuate floods, improve water quality, store carbon in biota and sediments, and provide cooling through riparian shade
Species Typical of
Other Rivers and Streams
🌱 Herbs and Wildflowers
• Meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria)
• Water mint (Mentha aquatica)
• Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria)
• Yellow flag iris (Iris pseudacorus)
🦦 Mammals
• Otter (Lutra lutra)
• Water vole (Arvicola amphibius)
🐦 Birds
• Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis)
• Sand martin (Riparia riparia)
• Grey wagtail (Motacilla cinerea)
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Other Rivers and Streams?
A BNG metric category for watercourses that are not large rivers, but are not ditches—including small-to-medium sized natural or semi-natural streams.
How is BNG measured here?
Measured in linear metres. Condition is assessed based on the habitat quality of the banks (vegetation structure, shading) and the channel (substrate diversity, flow variability, water quality indicators).
How can I achieve BNG?
Enhancement of riparian (bankside) habitat (e.g., fencing off to exclude livestock, planting native bankside vegetation, improving shading) or in-channel works to improve flow and substrate.
What is the BNG target condition?
Aiming for a Good condition, which includes a diverse and complex bankside vegetation, varied water depth and flow, and minimal signs of pollution or erosion.
What management is required?
Managing riparian buffer zones (fenced margins, no pesticide use), controlling invasive aquatic plants, and ensuring natural flow regimes are maintained.
Exploring Other Habitats?
Upland Hay Meadow
Upland hay meadows are species rich grasslands dominated by a mix of fine grasses and abundant herbaceous wildflowers such as sweet vernal-grass, wood crane’s-bill, great burnet, pignut, and lady’s mantles.
These meadows have developed through long term traditional management that combines light grazing with a late summer hay cut. Rare species including lesser butterfly-orchid and burnt orchid are sometimes found.
This habitat is a dense mix of grasses and a wide variety of wildflowers, with no single grass species dominating the vegetation.
Upland Calcareous Grassland
Upland calcareous grassland is a springy, species-rich habitat occurring above approximately 250–300 metres on lime-rich, or “base-rich,” soils. The habitat develops as a short, species rich sward of calcicolous grasses, herbs and orchids adapted to alkaline conditions and cooler upland climates
The grassland appears patchy and open, with fine grasses, colourful herbs and scattered rock outcrops. Wild thyme, common rock rose and bird’s foot trefoil often grow alongside sheep’s fescue and upright brome, creating a varied mosaic.
Upland Acid Grassland
Upland Acid Grassland is a mix of fine grasses, mosses and small herbaceous plants adapted to low pH and limited nutrients. This habitat appears as an open grassy landscape, often dominated by mat grass or purple moor grass. Texture and color come from all patches of tormentil, heath bedstraw and scattered mosses.
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