Case Studies

Project brief

In 2020, Ecosulis was commissioned to carry out biodiversity surveys and produce a nature recovery report for Bradford on Avon town council. This included site surveys on the ground, as well as aerial surveys with drones. As a tool to inform and promote nature recovery, the report was intended to stimulate creative thinking and discussion, rather than provide firm recommendations. It drew on the Ecosulis Natural Asset Framework, which is designed to help those managing land derive higher levels of value from the practice of managing and restoring natural areas. It also took account of rewilding principles and was underpinned by site surveys and ecological analysis.

Project brief

In 2018, Ecosulis was commissioned to develop a standardised methodology for assessing the ecological baseline of all Northumbrian Water and Essex & Suffolk Water landholdings. This was achieved through development of a Habitat Valuation Calculator, which used existing data relating to habitat extent, distinctiveness, condition, connectivity and the presence of priority habitat or species, to generate a score for each site. The ecological baseline of all sites could then be assessed cost effectively. In addition, the scores for every sites could be directly compared, regardless of the range of habitats present or current land use.

Project brief

In 2019, Ecosulis was commissioned by Severn Trent Water to compile a regional biodiversity strategy to inform the company's future biodiversity and nature recovery strategies and decisions relating to the Severn Trent biodiversity improvement fund, which is available to land managers and farmers within the Severn Trent region.  This involved the compilation of a series of strategy maps, covering Severn Trent's entire 500,000-hectare-plus region, incorporating information from existing open source datasets. These maps could then be used to highlight priority areas for ecological enhancement, such as wetlands and natural flood management priority areas.

Project brief

In 2016, Ecosulis was commissioned to begin Phase 1 of the Sandford Farm Country Park restoration work, which included the clearance of vegetation to create woodland rides and footpaths through the existing wood. Phase 2 of the work itself began in 2018, which included the creation of natural flood management features such as ditches and wetland scrapes, as well as the installation of boardwalks, bird hides and fencing. The overall aim of the project, which was completed on time and within budget, was to significantly enhance the nature of the site and make it more accessible for the local residents, while ensuring the client achieved value for money.

Project brief

The Ecosulis habitats team was commissioned to carry out a diverse range of habitat restoration tasks for the Wild Towns project, including everything from riverbank enhancement and town centre greening to the installation of wildlife boxes and meadow enhancement. For added value, the biodiversity team carried out monitoring work to evaluate the changes resulting from the restoration.

Project brief

In 2019, the Environmental Agency commissioned Ecosulis - as a leading UK practitioner of habitat restoration and natural flood management (NFM) - to co-design and implement a pilot project at three sites along the River Soar upstream from Leicester, in Enderby, Narborough and Croft. British engineering and design consultancy Atkins was commissioned as lead designer. Factors considered included current land usage, invasive species, public utilities, public interface and traffic management. The overall aim of the project was to demonstrate the significant and scalable potential of NFM. The idea was to show that working with nature upstream, often at quite a limited scale, can make a dramatic difference to what happens downstream and in built-up areas around rivers, mitigating flood risk and benefitting businesses and communities enormously.

Project brief

Ecosulis was commissioned to work on high-profile communications campaigns for WWF UK, WWF Scotland and WWF Cyrmru, and also teamed up with WWF Australia to produce a report on the potential of blockchain technlogy to bring about a step change in nature recovery and protection.

Project brief

Between 2015 and 2017, 51 pine martens were translocated from Scotland to Wales. Ecosulis worked with the Vincent Wildlife Trust to assess the impact of the pine marten reintroduction on local bird biodiversity, using the Biodiversity Quality Calculator (BQC).

Project brief

Ecosulis was asked by Skanska/Highways England to assess plant biodiversity along two stretches of highway in Wiltshire. Using the Biodiversity Quality Calculator (BQC), road verges were assessed as species poor grassland, dominated by grasses and scrub. To boost biosversity, Ecosulis recommended the use of appropriate grass seed mixes, better management of scrub areas, and rubbish removal.