Newly contructed data centre Holland Make-more-Aerials @ shutterstock 2507546273 (2026)

Key takeaways

  • Biodiversity net gain is difficult to achieve on data centre sites, and off-site habitat banking is increasingly part of the solution.

  • BNG obligations are beginning to influence site selection, steering developers towards land with lower baseline biodiversity value.
  • A growing toolkit of biodiversity metrics allows developers to screen sites before field survey is needed.