In February 2024, Fiona Muir and I ventured to Worcestershire to attend the annual Wildlife Trust Consultancies (WTC) conference. The event was a fantastic opportunity to meet with a range of colleagues based across the country, and to explore the latest survey and legislation guidance with fellow ecologists. The trip was short but provided us with time to explore our place within the WTC network, and how we can collaborate to effectively improve our working methods for the benefit of both our clients and employees.
One section of the afternoon was focused on technology’s purpose in providing in-depth activity data to support emergence survey data. As bat guidance has been updated since the 2023 survey season, raising awareness of new data that supports certain survey methods was highly informative. Fiona and I were able to understand the purpose of the new requirements and get hands on experience with the requisite bat survey equipment for the 2024 survey season.
As Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is now part of government statutory legislation, we were able to reflect on the guidance changes brought in alongside the new metric, adjusting our understanding of where BNG assessments fit into the world of ecological surveys for planning applications. There was a chance to speak to a range of ecologists that have been working with the latest metric on a variety of real site examples across the WTC regions and any discrepancies we noticed during these assessments. We were able to bring our own personal experiences to the table and open the floor to conversation around future thirty year management plans.
Our time in Worcestershire also covered other areas of consultancy including UKHab, Natural Capital and variations in working methods within our WTC network.
Overall, the experience allowed us to circulate new material and keep up to date with areas of ecology that are constantly evolving in line with government guidance. Our team is looking forward to future meetings which will provide more opportunities to catch up with our lovely colleagues.
To find out more about the WTC network, please visit our partner website at https://www.wtconsultancies.co.uk/.
By Molly Dyson