Commodifying biodiversity? The role of ecological consultants in the English planning system

Abstract

The paper reports on research exploring the work of ecological consultants in the English planning system in an era where biodiversity has been effectively commodified. Drawing on interviews with active ecologists the paper provides insight into how ecological knowledge is being applied and altered as a result of changing system requirements and technologies of performance in the formal land use planning system in England. We consider the tensions and impact of techne on the telos of planning, whereby the techne involves a field dependent toolkit or ensemble of methods, practices, concepts and tactics (i.e. across planning authority, developer and ecologist fields). This also informs and sustains the idea of detached knowledge in application (Zanotto, 2019) to planning issues and activities. The foundational concepts derived from regulatory codes, and institutional arrangements that surround them, are crucial in shaping such practices and, in turn the effectiveness of the planning profession. This is particularly so in terms of actualising real world benefits. There is a clear danger that the orientation or trajectories of the techne (the technocratic) affect the telos, which normatively include questions of the public interest, social, economic, and environmental justice and well-being (Knox, 2022; Wargent, Parker and Street, 2020). In this light we reflect on how nature actually benefits from the institutional ‘superstructure’ that has been developed after the 2021 Environment Act which is geared to deliver ‘biodiversity net gain’ and how this reflects nature’s interest.