Elizabeth has recently been certified as a Biodiversity Benchmark Auditor. The Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark is the only standard that certifies the management of business sites for wildlife. The Biodiversity Benchmark enables those businesses which have achieved excellence to be recognised and celebrated. Further information here – https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/partnerships/working-businesses/biodiversity-benchmark NB Elizabeth is already a Building with Nature (BwN) Assessor, and this differs from the Benchmark in being the UK’s first green infrastructure (GI) benchmark for the UK built-environment sector (https://www.buildingwithnature.org.uk/ ). If […]

Becca and Nicole are now certified to undertake the BNG Rivers Condition Assessment in addition to the normal BNG assessments Wild Service undertakes. A Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Rivers Condition Assessment evaluates the ecological state of rivers and streams to ensure development projects meet mandatory BNG requirements. Introduced under the Environment Act 2021, BNG mandates a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity for developments affecting rivers, maintained for at least 30 years. This assessment is critical for planning applications involving watercourses, […]

In 2025 we warmly welcome Esther Paton as our new Assistant Ecologist. With a background in data analysis, mapping and writing scientific reports Esther will be engaged in our range of ecological surveys, including botanical and UK habitat surveys. She will also be producing GIS habitat maps for BNG purposes. In other Wild Service team news Elizabeth Pimley has been certified to act as an auditor for the Wildlife Trusts’ Biodiversity Benchmark standard that certifies the management of business sites […]

Natural England have granted an extension (Annex D) to Elizabeth’s Bat Mitigation Class Licence to include day and transitional roosts of low numbers of lesser horseshoe bats in addition to other bat species for which the licence can be used (i,e, small numbers of common/soprano pipistrelle, brown long-eared, Natterer’s, Brandt’s, Daubenton’s). This will speed up the licensing process for projects involving lesser horseshoe roosts of relatively low conservation status located in the southwest of England.