HEL are currently looking to recruit an ornithological surveyor to join their bird team and to work on a large-scale project. Please see the about us page for details of the post.
CSCS Qualified
All HEL staff now hold a CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) white card. This demonstrates our knowledge of safe working practices on construction sites and provides clients with the assurance that we work to the highest health and safety standards.
HEL has acquired 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 ecology, it is essential that developments plan ecological mitigation into the project design. HEL is able to tailor mitigation to a particular development, allowing the development to fulfil legal requirements, purify planning conditions, maintain best practice and continue works. HEL can provide detailed design specifications 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 hibernacula, habitat for breeding waders, butterfly habitat and species-rich grasslands.
Case Study – Habitat Creation for Breeding Waders at Ravenscraig
The site of the former steelworks at Ravenscraig, North Lanarkshire, provides breeding habitat for a range of breeding waders, including northern lapwing, Eurasian oystercatcher, common ringed plover and little plover. Since it was predicted that, in the absence of appropriate mitigation, the site’s regeneration would result in significant negative residual effects on breeding waders, HEL were commissioned by Ravenscraig Ltd to design and implement compensatory habitat creation. An area extending to more than 26,000m2 was created by translocating significant amounts of steel slagfrom the development area to a nearby former agricultural field. This provided an extensive flat, open area, similar to that used by breeding waders on the regeneration site. Surrounding trees and scrub that could have provided perches for predatory crows were removed from the area. Further habitat requirements for breeding waders were undertaken by creating a series of small, shallow pools to provide cover and a foraging resource for wader chicks. HEL now undertakes annual monitoring of breeding waders within the new habitat.
Heritage Environmental Ltd 50 High Street, Auchterarder Perthshire, PH3 1DB
