The Biodiversity Challenge Awards encourage the construction industry to 'go big for nature' by putting biodiversity at the centre of its projects to deliver beyond minimum requirements set out by biodiversity net gain in England.

 

The Biodiversity Challenge Awards, formerly the BIG Biodiversity Challenge, started as a CIRIA Biodiversity Interest Group (BIG) initiative, launched in 2013. Since its launch the awards have grown considerably and attract organisations from across a wide range of stakeholder groups.

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In 2022, the Biodiversity Interest Group evolved into a Community of Practice (CoP), aimed at growing support for the implementation of biodiversity net gain (BNG) principles. The CoP now oversees the delivery of the Biodiversity Challenge Awards.
 

The Awards aim to:

 

• Go beyond requirements. Adopt and further the BNG regulations. 

• Show that even small interventions where space is limited can play a key role in protecting, enhancing, and restoring biodiversity, particularly when supporting natural connectivity.

• Showcase projects that have overcome the challenges of providing space for nature within constrained urban areas.

• Demonstrate the breadth of infrastructure elements that biodiversity interventions can be made a part of.

• Reiterate the importance of long-term maintenance and funding plans to ensure the longevity of habitat creation and biodiversity benefits.

• Highlight the need to engage a wide range of stakeholders, particularly local communities for long-term success.

• Promote best practice in the delivery of biodiversity projects, highlighting key considerations that need to be understood to deliver long-lasting benefits.

• Recognise the people making biodiversity restoration happen.

 

The challenge originally invited organisations to add at least one biodiversity enhancement to their projects, originally captured by the tagline ‘do one thing’.

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In 2024, the bar was raised, and companies are now encouraged to ‘go big for nature’ – beyond the minimum requirements set out in polices such as BNG in England. This change was applied in response to new legislation and in recognition of the critical importance of providing more space for biodiversity in our built environment, and the multiple benefits these interventions can bring.

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"Nature in the UK is in trouble, but the small and large changes we make together do make a difference for our wildlife – whether its integrating swift bricks into buildings, softening the design of new developments with nature in mind, or major landscape scale restoration at mineral extraction sites. I'm delighted to see how much the BIG Biodiversity Challenge is gaining momentum – evident from the number of entries received. My thanks go out to all the businesses for their commitment to improving biodiversity across all stages of the construction cycle”. 

 

Professor Steve Ormerod, Chairman of Council, RSPB and Professor of Ecology, Cardiff University