Responsible Body
How can we help?
RSK Wilding is the driving force behind RSK Biocensus’s role as a Responsible Body. We are here to help landowners, developers, and partnerships realise their conservation and nature-related goals in a manner that respects and enhances the natural environment.
Our aim is to explore what may be required ecologically or operationally, on habitat banks, offset sites and other restoration projects, to reduce the risk of outcomes not being delivered over the term of the covenant.
Our approach to risk and enforcement is based on building relationships with those we choose to enter into conservation covenants with. It is through communication and collaboration from the start that we aim to minimise any disagreement or risk for future enforcement. Through open and pragmatic discussion about the standards we expect, and the often complex nature of restoration projects, we can minimise our risk and reduce the costs of monitoring.
Not only can we offer our core compliance monitoring as a Responsible Body – for those who already have ecologists in place – but we can also provide the more detailed BNG monitoring and reporting services, including habitat management and monitoring plans (HMMP), if required. This can lead to efficiencies, since one organisation takes responsibility for all ecological oversight of a habitat creation/restoration project. What we cannot do is carry out the habitat works themselves and monitor the outcomes as well.
As well as enabling BNG and nutrient neutrality projects, conservation covenants will help play a significant role in achieving a variety of other conservation and environmental goals across England in the future. We are interested in exploring all the areas in which conservation covenants could be applied, especially those that include:
- habitat protection and restoration
- dedicated species recovery
- natural flood management
- climate change resilience
- cultural heritage and public access
- sustainable land management and regenerative agriculture.
Fees for our services as a responsible body can vary depending on a range of factors, including scope, complexity and site size. Want to know more or request a bespoke quote for your site? Get in touch below.
Work with us
As a Responsible Body, we are committed to leading the standards of nature recovery while providing solutions using a collaborative approach.
Get in touchResponsible Body FAQs
A Responsible Body is an organisation designated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) under the Environment Act 2021 to form and hold conservation covenants.
To become a Responsible Body, an organisation must have an operating base in the UK that allows it to properly carry out its conservation covenant functions. This means that the main activities to deliver conservation covenants and the people delivering them must be located in the UK.
An organisation must also be one of the following:
- a local authority
- a public body or charity, where at least some of its main purposes or functions relate to conservation
- a body other than a public body or charity, where at least some of its main activities relate to conservation.
A Responsible Body’s role is to enter into the contract – the conservation covenant – with the landowner.
This means that the Responsible Body legally creates the deed in collaboration with a landowner to ensure it meets the requirements of public good, legal acuity and ecological or heritage delivery.
The Responsible Body then monitors and enforces the actions and requirements under the covenant.
This will most likely depend on project complexities and timescales: for example, if you wish to secure anything on-site by conservation covenant or if you are waiting to secure off-site biodiversity unit provision.
For planning permissions, it is likely that the local planning authority (LPA) will need assurance that you are likely to secure a conservation covenant; therefore, approaching a Responsible Body early will make the process more efficient and help you secure consent by providing the necessary assurance that BNG can be delivered.
If you get in touch and discuss the needs of your development with us, we will be better placed to discuss with you when you may require support, and we can ensure our process fits in at the right time.