2023, The Crown Estate, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Marine Internships, Marine Net Gain Project Pipeline

This project was hosted by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust with the help of the partner organisations, The Crown Estate, Ørsted and Natural England. The report includes recommendations on the potential interventions a developer could use, as inspiration for their future Net Gain projects. With the continued decline in marine biodiversity in the UK’s waters, there has been an increasing recognition for the importance of greater restoration action to the marine environment. To deliver the British Energy Security Strategy and meet the UK’s ambitious targets for net zero, the numbers of marine developments are likely to significantly increase in the coming years, particularly in relation to offshore wind. Defra’s 25 Year Environment Plan commits to putting the marine environment in recovery, and it is vital that nature recovery is embedded within development at sea. An important tool to meeting UK energy targets and delivering ocean recovery is the implementation of Marine Net Gain in policy. The UK Government intends to make Marine Net Gain a mandatory requirement for all new developments in English waters below the mean low water mark. It is an exciting and emerging area of marine policy. Net gain is an approach to development that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than beforehand. This means protecting, restoring, or creating environmental features that are of greater ecological value to wildlife, habitats and people than any losses associated with the original project (Defra, 2022). The requirements for Marine Net Gain are still being decided.