A habitat management and monitoring plan (HMMP) is a detailed plan that outlines how the land will be managed over at least 30 years to create and enhance habitats for biodiversity net gain (BNG) and how these habitats will be managed and monitored so that maximum benefits for biodiversity are delivered.
In November 2024, two of RSK Wilding’s team, Calum Rennie May and James Hicks, delivered an excellent webinar explaining what an HMMP is, what the Defra/Natural England HMMP template requires, how the companion document should be used to design a programme of management and monitoring appropriate to the habitats involved, and how to ensure successful implementation. The pair also detail how HMMPs apply to both on and offsite delivery of BNG, as well as setting out how RSK Biocensus, as a Responsible Body, review HMMPs for habitat banks and how they form the basis for compliance monitoring over the course of the 30-year conservation covenant.
Watch this informative webinar here https://youtu.be/s-VVT6c-kpA?si=M2vBVApj-aoywO3t
James is an Associate Director with RSK Wilding and is a Chartered Ecologist, Chartered Environmentalist and full member of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM). He has extensive experience with producing and implementing HMMPs for a wide range of habitats. James has also led BNG strategies and assessments for some of the largest infrastructure projects in the UK. He is a member of the CIEEM Ecological Restoration and Habitat Creation Special Interest Group and was the lead author and editor of the CIEEM Good practice guidance for ecological restoration.
Calum is a Senior ecological consultant with RSK Wilding with a specialism in BNG. He has experience in habitat assessment and wider ecology across water, energy, railway and highways projects, with a past life as a science teacher.