Every BNG assessment starts the same way: open the statutory metric spreadsheet, pull up MAGIC, check the NBN Atlas, cross-reference BGS, look at flood maps, check for SSSIs. It takes 1–2 hours before you've even set foot on site.
What if that was already done for you?
BioGain queries 7 government data sources in seconds and pre-fills your baseline. You edit what needs editing based on your site visit — you don't start from zero.
The Problem with Starting from Scratch
As an ecologist, your value is in interpretation — reading the landscape, assessing condition, understanding ecological relationships, making professional judgements. It's not in manually transcribing data from five different government websites into a spreadsheet.
Yet that's where a chunk of every assessment goes:
- Downloading habitat polygons from MAGIC
- Checking NBN Atlas for species records
- Looking up flood risk zones
- Finding soil data from BGS
- Checking for designations (SSSIs, ancient woodland)
- Measuring areas and mapping baseline habitats
BioGain does all of this in about 30 seconds.
What You Get
| Data Source | What's Pre-Filled |
|---|---|
| Natural England Priority Habitats | Habitat polygons, types, areas — mapped and scored |
| Ancient Woodland Inventory | ASNW and PAWS locations with names |
| SSSI Boundaries | Designations within/near site with references |
| EA Flood Maps | Flood zone classification (Zone 2/3) |
| NBN Atlas | Species records with dates, vernacular names, categories |
| BGS Superficial Deposits | Soil type descriptions and classifications |
| EA LIDAR 1m DTM | Elevation profile (min/max/avg), terrain classification |
Your Workflow with BioGain
- Before the site visit: Draw the boundary in BioGain, get the auto-populated baseline. Print or save the report. You now know what to expect on site.
- During the site visit: Verify habitats, assess condition, note anything the data missed. Focus on interpretation, not data gathering.
- After the site visit: Edit the baseline in BioGain — adjust habitat types, update condition scores, add habitats the datasets didn't capture. Run the SSM or export to the full statutory biodiversity metric.
Think of BioGain as your desk study, automated. It doesn't replace your expertise — it gives you a head start so your expertise goes further.
What BioGain Can't Do
Let's be clear about limitations:
- Condition assessment — Government data doesn't include habitat condition. BioGain estimates based on available indicators, but you'll refine this on site.
- Phase 1 habitat survey — Auto-detected habitats come from the Priority Habitat Inventory, which doesn't cover everything. Non-priority habitats need field identification.
- Protected species surveys — Species records from NBN Atlas tell you what's been recorded nearby, but they're not a substitute for targeted surveys (bat surveys, GCN presence/absence, etc.).
- Professional judgement — Strategic significance, enhancement feasibility, mitigation strategy — that's why you exist.
Professional plan: £99/month
Unlimited reports, editable baselines, condition sheets, Statutory metric export, client project management.
Start Free Trial →Why Auto-Population Matters
With BNG now mandatory on every planning application, the volume of assessments has exploded. Ecologists are stretched thin. The bottleneck isn't expertise — it's the tedious data gathering that precedes every assessment.
If you can cut 1–2 hours of desk study per site, and you do 10 assessments a month, that's 10–20 hours back. At typical ecologist rates, that's £500–£1,000 worth of time freed up for higher-value work.
Or you can take on more clients without increasing hours.
Data Accuracy
All data comes from official government APIs queried in real-time:
- Priority Habitats — Natural England WFS (updated periodically)
- Ancient Woodland — Natural England WFS (definitive inventory)
- SSSIs — Natural England WFS (statutory boundaries)
- Flood Risk — Environment Agency WFS (planning flood maps)
- Species — NBN Atlas REST API (verified records)
- Soil — BGS WFS (50k superficial deposits)
- Elevation — EA LIDAR WMS (1m DTM 2022)
All coordinates are properly transformed from WGS84 to EPSG:27700 (British National Grid) for government WFS queries, with output in WGS84 for map rendering. We've validated accuracy against known test sites including ancient woodland in the New Forest and SSSIs in the South Downs.
Try it on a site you know
Best way to evaluate BioGain: run it on a site you've already assessed manually. Compare what it finds with what you found. If it saves you an hour of desk study, the Professional plan pays for itself in one assessment. Open BioGain →