Tree Climbing Surveys
HEL are pleased to announce that we now have the in-house ability to undertake tree climbing assessments for bats.  This method is considered the only robust way to survey trees for bat roosts.

New Website
Welcome to our new look website, we hope you enjoy it!  Please let us know if you experience any problems with the use of this site. 

HEL has required a wealth of expertise regarding mitigation, habitat enhancement and habitat creation.  We can offer an efficient and comprehensive service, working with clients to ensure the ecological success of a project.

Due to the potential impact of a development on habitats and species, it is essential that developments with significant ecological features plan mitigation into the project design.  HEL is able to tailor mitigation to a particular development, allowing the development to fulfil legal requirements and continue works.

The value of existing habitats and features that are to be retained within a development can be increased by simple ecological enhancement techniques.  These techniques can be adding bat bricks into a bridge during renovation works, the construction of a new badger sett or improving the species richness of a meadow.

HEL can design and supervise the creation of new habitats on a development site.  In the past we have created habitats such as ponds and artificial refugia for amphibians, bat hibernaculum and wildflower meadows.

Case Study – Gartcosh Industrial Park

In the development of Gartcosh Industrial Park, formerly a steelworks, several significant ecological features were identified.  To retain these features, the Gartcosh Nature Reserve was created.

Several habitats, including fen and basic slag were translocated, into the receptor sites on the nature reserve.  Twenty-four new ponds were also created within the nature reserve with the purpose of providing habitat for amphibians, including the protected great crested newt.  HEL also provided an Ecological Clerk of Works to supervise the creation and translocation of habitats onto the nature reserve.

The habitat translocation and creation within Gartcosh Nature Reserve was successful, allowing the ecological interests of the site to be safeguarded and the development to continue.