The Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool

The Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool (formerly Ecometric) is a voluntary decision-support tool. It is currently designed to work alongside the Biodiversity Metric 3.0 to support projects delivering Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). This mirrors the approach by applying a matrix of scores for different habitats and ecosystem services to enable interoperability. It is intended to support the Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan commitment to ‘expand net gain approaches to include wider Natural Capital benefits such as flood protection, recreation and improved water and air quality’. 

The tool uses a habitat-based approach. This provides a common and consistent means of considering the direct impact of land use change across 18 ecosystem services. It also measures change in the extent and condition of habitats, aiming to make loses and gains more transparent to flag areas for more detailed consideration. The score matrix is modified to reflect habitat condition, spatial location, delivery risk, and time taken to reach maturity. 

The aim is to help improve the design and outcomes of development, and demonstrate the wider benefits of BNG. The tool is designed for work in England, supporting developers, planners and other interested parties. 

Natural England and the University of Oxford developed the Environmental Benefits from Nature Tool in partnership with Defra, the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency and are responsible for its continued management. It is currently available as a ‘beta’ test version. The Tool is now being updated to work with the Statutory Biodiversity Metric and Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Standards. The update will incorporate new data tools to make actions quicker, easier and more integrated. The updated tool is expected to be published in early autumn 2024.