ESS Ecology

High quality ecological impact assessments for developments, including habitat and species surveys for terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecology.

Developers - Ecological Consultancy Services

Our vast experience as ecological experts allows us to deliver you cost effective solutions that adhere to statutory guidelines, guaranteeing your developments proceed whilst protecting and enhancing the surrounding environment.  By listening to your individual needs from the outset we can provide you with a fully tailored service and will develop long lasting personal relationships that are not always achieved by our larger competitors.

We fully understand the importance of working to strict deadlines and within tight budgets.  As ecological survey work is often seasonally constrained, contacting us early on in the development process will help guarantee that you save costly delays in project schedules.  This is achieved by maintaining regular contact with you allowing any unforeseen circumstances to be dealt with in an upfront and timely manner, further reducing you unnecessary costs and delays.

We specialise in protected species surveys and assessment, reporting, mitigation and ongoing monitoring studies.  We can provide you with individual protected species survey reports and habitat survey / habitat management reports through to more extensive Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) reports.  These can be produced either as a standalone document for small scale development projects or as part of a wider Environmental Statement (ES) for large scale infrastructure developments.  Our main area of expertise lies in our knowledge of Schedule 1 category developments.   ESS Ecology can undertake all aspects of the EcIA; producing the ecology chapters following the current guidelines as set out be the Insitute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM), which inform the wider ES, as part of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process.

What ESS Ecology can do for you:

• Liaise with the appropriate bodies, such as the local authority and other statutory consultees on your behalf
• Ecological screening studies of potential sites to highlight any ecological constraints
• Ecological scoping studies (including desk based research) to highlight any constraints before you submit a planning application
• Carry out species and habitat specific surveys (including terrestrial, freshwater and marine)
• Conduct a full and thorough Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA)
• Produce reports and graphics with GIS,  using a pre-defined structure and format if required
• Recommend and design ecological mitigation schemes
• Aid your application for the relevant protected species license(s)
• Provide you with ongoing ecological monitoring studies to measure the effectiveness of the implemented mitigation strategies
• Advise on and implement habitat enhancement,  compensation or restoration measures required as part of mitigation (i.e. species / habitat management plans)
• Undertake habitat creation
• Provide specialised ecological input for Land Use and Ecology BREEAM assessments; and
• Act as an expert witness at public inquiries.

ESS Ecology can also provide you with a tailor made CPD seminar relating to protected species and the requirements within the planning system.  If you would like more further information on this or for more details on any of our services please fill out our contact form.