Mandatory from 2 November 2026
Biodiversity Net Gain for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects
Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects face some of the most complex biodiversity net gain challenges in the built environment. Large linear footprints, multi-authority consenting processes, phased construction programmes, and significant off-site requirements create obligations that most habitat bank models were simply not designed to meet.
Greenshank Environmental is purpose-built for this market: structured, tested, and experienced across the full DCO lifecycle.
Three ways Greenshank can secure your BNG supply
01 · Existing Habitat Bank Supply
Access biodiversity units from Greenshank's established network of operational and developing habitat bank partners across England. Where no single partner site can meet the full requirement, Greenshank aggregates supply across multiple banks into a single coordinated transaction.
02 · Build-to-Order
Where existing supply doesn't meet the scale, location, or habitat type of your project, Greenshank designs and delivers bespoke habitat banks to specification, timed to align with your construction programme.
03 · Land Acquisition on Behalf of the Promoter
For promoters who prefer direct land control, Greenshank identifies, options, and acquires land on your behalf, delivering a managed habitat operation within your project's own legal and financial structure.
Six problems that standard habitat banks cannot solve
The mandatory BNG regime for NSIPs creates structural challenges distinct from residential or commercial development. Most habitat bank models were not designed to address them.
Scale and supply scarcity
NSIP projects typically require large volumes of biodiversity units across multiple habitat types. Most registered habitat banks are sized for residential developers and cannot meet the scale or complexity of NSIP demand.
DCO timeline uncertainty
The DCO process spans many years from pre-application to consent. Promoters need confidence that off-site supply will be secured, legally documented, and deliverable when construction commences, often before a Final Investment Decision is reached.
Phased delivery complexity
Infrastructure projects are rarely built in a single phase. Biodiversity Gain Plans must account for phased habitat creation, sequential baseline surveys, and staggered ecological management commitments that few suppliers are operationally equipped to manage.
Spatial optimisation across multi-area footprints
The challenge is correctly optimising unit attribution across a complex, multi-section footprint, and managing the separate, stricter same-catchment rule that applies specifically to all watercourse losses.
LNRS alignment and community co-benefits
Habitat creation aligned with a Local Nature Recovery Strategy's mapped measures qualifies for the strategic significance multiplier, reducing the land area and cost required to meet the 10% target.
Revenue stacking left unrealised
Biodiversity units, nutrient neutrality credits, carbon sequestration, natural flood management, and social value contributions can all be generated from the same landholding, reducing net cost and creating measurable positive returns.
Who we work with
Tailored support for promoters and landowners
For Promoters
If you are an NSIP promoter approaching mandatory BNG for the first time, or revisiting your current supply strategy, Greenshank can support you at any stage of the DCO lifecycle.
Our engagement model is built around your programme, not ours. We work best when involved early - before your Biodiversity Gain Statement is finalised - but we can also mobilise quickly for projects approaching consent where off-site supply has not yet been secured.
i.
Pre-application and early engagement
Before your Biodiversity Gain Statement is finalised, Greenshank can review your preliminary ecological assessment, model off-site supply requirements, identify suitable habitat bank locations along or adjacent to your route, and provide indicative cost and delivery certainty ahead of DCO submission.
Early engagement avoids competing for scarce supply post-consent and gives your application a more credible, evidenced BNG position.
ii.
Securing supply pre-FID
Our FID-aligned capital structures allow NSIP promoters to secure credible, legally documented off-site supply commitments before a Final Investment Decision, without requiring upfront capital deployment at full project scale.
This gives your board, funders, and statutory stakeholders confidence in secured biodiversity commitments while preserving financial flexibility.
iii.
Cross-disciplinary delivery
Greenshank works with leading infrastructure consultancies, DCO legal specialists, and ecological practices to ensure BNG supply integrates seamlessly into your wider environmental management framework. Legal structuring is supported by one of the largest infrastructure law firms in the UK, providing bankable, consent-ready agreements.
Next steps for promoters
Request a no-obligation consultation to review your project's off-site BNG requirements
Commission a supply feasibility assessment covering unit volumes, habitat types, and geographic matching against your route corridor
Engage Greenshank as a pre-tender supply partner ahead of formal procurement, to shape your specification and understand market capacity
Explore blended delivery structures combining network supply, build-to-order, and promoter land acquisition to cover your full requirement
For Landowners
If you own land near a major infrastructure corridor, mandatory BNG for NSIPs creates a significant and durable income opportunity.
NSIP projects require large volumes of biodiversity units, often in geographically specific locations. Unlike residential development, which can source units from anywhere within a Local Planning Authority area, NSIPs frequently have route-specific supply requirements.
If your land is adjacent to a new electricity transmission line, road, rail project, or offshore interconnector landfall, it may be exactly what a promoter needs.
Greenshank operates a tiered partnership model that gives landowners meaningful participation in the financial upside of habitat creation, without requiring you to carry development or regulatory risk.
Option phase
Greenshank secures a land option to allow site assessment and planning without committing to acquisition. You receive an option fee for granting access to progress due diligence, with no capital required from you.
Development phase
Where the site is suitable, Greenshank manages the process end-to-end: baseline scoping, ecological design and consenting, project management, legal structuring, and brokering the supply relationship with NSIP promoters. Our team handles the complexity at every stage, so you can make informed decisions without needing specialist ecological or planning expertise in-house.
Income phase
Once units are sold to an NSIP promoter, income is shared according to a pre-agreed tiered structure that reflects the land's ecological contribution. Revenue from habitat creation can be further enhanced through carbon sequestration and, where applicable, nutrient neutrality credit generation.
Next steps for landowners
Contact Greenshank to discuss whether your land is suitable for NSIP habitat supply - location, land use, and existing ecological baseline all inform suitability
Request a no-obligation land suitability review, covering proximity to NSIP routes, habitat creation potential, and indicative unit generation capacity
Speak to our team about partnership terms, the tiered income structure, and the legal framework that governs habitat agreements
Explore revenue stacking opportunities across BNG, carbon, nutrient neutrality, NFM, water storage, water quality, and social value markets to maximise your land's natural capital income
What makes NSIP demand different
NSIP promoters are large, well-capitalised organisations - National Grid, National Highways, energy developers - with reliable procurement processes and durable contractual commitments
Route-specific supply requirements mean land near an NSIP corridor may command a premium over standard habitat bank supply
The scale of NSIP requirements supports larger habitat creation projects, which generate more units and more income from a single site
Long-term management - whether 30 years or aligned to the operational lifetime of the infrastructure - is fully funded from unit sale proceeds: you are not exposed to ongoing cost obligations from your own capital
Habitat management agreements run for a minimum of 30 years under current BNG regulations - but NSIP promoters increasingly require management commitments aligned to the operational lifetime of the infrastructure itself, which may significantly exceed 30 years.
Greenshank's agreements are structured to accommodate this. All schemes are fully funded from unit sale proceeds for the full duration required, whether that is 30 years, 60 years, or longer.
Professional ecological management is contracted across the whole period, with no long-term cost obligation falling on the landowner. Your land continues to generate ecological and financial value throughout.
Why Greenshank — purpose-built for the NSIP BNG market
Dedicated NSIP team
A specialist NSIPs and Major Projects function with direct experience across the DCO lifecycle, from pre-application assessment to post-consent habitat management.
FID-aligned capital structures
Five capital structures developed to align land-option funding timelines with infrastructure investment decisions.
GIS-led route analysis
Spatial analysis across major UK transmission and infrastructure corridors, matching supply to route, catchment, and LNRS area requirements.
Well tested legal templates
BNG agreements and habitat management frameworks developed in partnership with one of the largest infrastructure law firms in the UK.
Full-spectrum natural capital expertise
Operational across BNG, nutrient neutrality, carbon, natural flood management, water storage, water quality, and social value.
Seven habitat bank project types
Grassland creation, woodland establishment, riparian buffers, constructed wetlands, de-intensified agricultural land, and multi-habitat strategic banks.
Start the conversation before the pressure starts
Whether you are a promoter building your Biodiversity Gain Statement, or a landowner near an NSIP corridor, the earlier Greenshank is involved, the more we can do. Speak to our NSIPs and Major Projects team for an initial no-obligation discussion.
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