What Survey Do You Need?

Determining the appropriate ecological survey is crucial for ensuring compliance with environmental regulations and the protection of local wildlife during development projects. It's important to do the right survey at the right time, to avoid potential wildlife legislation breaches, which can lead to avoidable fines and stop work orders.

At Aware Ecology, we are here to make the process as easy as possible by offering a comprehensive range of surveys tailored to assess various species and habitats. Understanding which survey aligns with your project's needs is essential for a smooth planning process.

A lot of people think that something coming up from an ecological survey will put a stop to their project, but thats not necessarily the case.

If something is uncovered in a survey, then that just means you will move into a mitigation phase. A mitigation phase  explores the options on how you can complete your project while still catering for the protected species, either by avoidance, reduction, compensation or a combination of all three.

Avoidance means slightly altering the scope of your project to avoid the protected species, allowing them to be unaffected by the work you will be carrying out. Reduction is when you can't avoid the animals, but can minimise your impact through other means. This could be by completing work in a season where the species isn't active in your area, or another type of soft compromise. Then compensation is, most often, creating a new and improved habitat for the species to live in away from your site.

A survey is there to help your project, not to hinder it, so don’t be afraid to reach out.