Services

Since February 2024, most planning applications in England have had to deliver at least a 10% gain in biodiversity. Some smaller and temporary developments are exempt, but the exemptions come with conditions, such as not affecting priority habitat, and the rules changed again in August 2026. Check with us before assuming your project is exempt; it costs far less than finding out at validation.

For a BNG assessment we survey the site using UKHab, map the habitats in QGIS, assess their condition and run the statutory metric. Where a river or stream runs through or alongside the site, we carry out a River Condition Assessment using MoRPh5. Larissa is a registered assessor, which not every ecologist is.

Once you have permission, we can prepare the Biodiversity Gain Plan and the Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan the council will ask for.

The usual starting point is a Preliminary Ecological Appraisal: a desk study and a site visit to record the habitats and look for signs of protected species. It tells you early whether further surveys are needed, rather than the council telling you after you've submitted.

Bats are a large part of our work. Larissa holds a Natural England bat survey licence, and we carry out roost assessments on buildings and trees, including eDNA surveys, followed by emergence, re-entry, activity and static detector surveys where they're needed. Roost surveys can only be carried out between May and September, so for barn conversions, loft works or demolition we recommend getting in touch early in the year to secure survey dates.

We also carry out eDNA surveys for great crested newts, sampling ponds between mid-April and the end of June, and other protected species surveys including reptiles, water voles, badgers and breeding birds. Each is carried out within its survey season by ecologists experienced with that species.

Where a project needs its effects on wildlife assessed in full, we write Ecological Impact Assessments following CIEEM guidance.

Planning permission often arrives with ecology conditions attached, and work can't start until they're discharged. We prepare the documents the council asks for, including Construction Environmental Management Plans for biodiversity, Habitat Management and Monitoring Plans, Landscape and Ecological Management Plans, Biodiversity Enhancement Plans and ecological method statements.

Once work starts on site, we can act as Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW). That includes pre-works checks for nesting birds and other protected species, toolbox talks for contractors, and supervising sensitive work such as vegetation clearance or demolition, so the measures in a CEMP or method statement are followed in practice.

Send us the decision notice and we can usually tell you quickly what's needed.

Woodland management is one of our specialisms. We write woodland management plans covering coppicing, thinning and ride management, with close attention to ancient and veteran trees.

We also prepare plans for grassland, heathland, wetland and hedgerows, either to deliver Biodiversity Net Gain or to improve land for wildlife more generally. Larissa's background is in botany, with a particular interest in invertebrates and how habitats can be managed for them. Getting conditions right for invertebrates benefits the birds, bats and other animals that feed on them, so our plans are built around the plants and wildlife present on each site.

For ancient and veteran trees, our partner Conservation Arboriculture provides veteran tree surveys, advice and management (VetCert), and creates habitat features within living trees, often called veteranisation, where natural features such as cavities and deadwood are missing.

Tree work is delivered in partnership with Conservation Arboriculture. Between us we cover tree surveys to BS 5837:2012, Arboricultural Impact Assessments (AIAs), tree protection plans and arboricultural method statements for planning applications, as well as tree inspections, Tree Preservation Order applications, veteran tree management (VetCert), bat roost surveys of trees and habitat creation.

We also take on work as a subcontractor for other ecological consultancies, usually to cover the busy months. That can be fieldwork, bat survey support, BNG metric work or report writing.