Biodiversity and Ecology Training

The Nature agenda is growing hugely in importance for the built environment as a sector in the UK and beyond. This is demonstrated through the introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain in England, coupled with policy developments in Scotland and Wales and an increased interest and focus on external reporting on impacts on nature. Meanwhile, the 2023 State of Nature report shows UK species abundance declining by 19% on average since records began in 1970, and nearly 1 in 6 of the 10,000-plus species surveyed risk being lost. But while countless important natural habitats are in poor condition, work to protect landscapes has clear benefits for nature, people and climate.

Development and the increased modernisation of our lives have caused an alarming decrease in biodiversity worldwide, all while we increasingly realise that natural systems and nature based solutions offer one of our best routes out of the climate crisis;

• The pressures of urban expansion place an ever-increasing demand on fragile natural resources and available habitat
• Globalisation has led to the spread of invasive species which rapidly outcompete native wildlife
• Pesticides from agriculture can be linked to a decline in 40% of all insect species

All of the Earth’s plants, animals, insects and microbes contribute to biodiversity with each individual species playing its own unique part.