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Barry Nicholson 1959 - 2010

Very sadly our friend, Ecology Consultancy Co Director, and top ecologist, Barry Nicholson died on Sunday September 12th. Tragically he fell ill with lymphoma a couple of years ago shortly after the death of his beloved wife, Liz. He will be greatly missed.

I first met Barry some 27 years ago. He was working for the Greenwich Wildlife Conservation Unit and I had just started working for London Wildlife Trust. First impressions were of a bluff northern guy - no messing - but straightforward, honest, and reliable.

A little while later the Trust employed him as a Field Officer and subsequently as a botanical surveyor on the Wildlife Habitat Survey of London that the Trust carried out on behalf of the GLC. Barry then went off to study for an MSc in Ecology at the University of Bangor, following that with ecological work in Hertfordshire and North London before returning to the Trust as a Senior Supervisor responsible for a team of ecological surveyors. In 1988 he was appointed to manage the Trust's commercial consultancy, London Conservation Services. I was always pleased to welcome Barry back to the Trust and over time we became close friends.

In 1992 he headed out to Peru to act as an ecologist within the Tambopata - Candamo Reserve zone where he met his wife-to-be, Liz. A year later he returned to the UK to join English Nature and then headed out to Hong Kong to work with mutual friend, and ex-LWT colleague, Gary Grant. Back in the UK he worked as a freelance ecologist on a variety of projects.

When I set up Ecology Consultancy, over 10 years ago, there was no one else who I wanted as a co-director but Barry. Without him Ecology Consultancy wouldn't be what it is today, particularly the development of our Norwich office and consultancy work in East Anglia. I depended on his advice daily and there was no greater pleasure than discussing the ways of the world over a curry and a pint when he came to visit me in Brixton.

Barry's last few years were horrendous for him and yet still he was prepared to tackle work issues with the same gusto as ever before. Even a short while before his death, when I last saw him, his advice was spot on. I will miss him terribly both as friend and a colleague.

He is a great loss to The Ecology Consultancy and to the ecology profession.




John Newton, Managing Director, The Ecology Consultancy

Our Summer Briefing is out!

Summer is a busy time for ecology work - these are prime months for surveying bats, reptiles, great crested newts, breeding birds and dormice. Our staff live semi-nocturnal lives at this time, often returning to the office with exciting stories. In Burgess Park in London, a site which is adjacent to the busy Old Kent Road and surrounded by urban sprawl, a high number of large bats (probably Serotine's) and the tiny Pipistrelle bat, were seen and heard soon after sunset. As there had been no bat activity at nearby sites, this was a great surprise.

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Spring newsletter now available

Spring is in the air and the animals are stirring; one of our colleagues trapped their first great crested newt yesterday. Sadly unlike newts we haven't had time to switch off over the winter, but have been very busy planning the new season's work and preparing, amongst other things, our latest newsletter.

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Building schools for the future

We have been working on a number of Building Schools for the Future projects around the country. Full details of our work in this area are available in this flyer

Wind farms galore

The Ecology Consultancy has been working on an increasing number of wind farm projects in recent months. One project for the proposed Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm in Norfolk has involved us in pond surveys for great crested newts along the proposed routes for the cable connections to the National Grid. Over 200 ponds have been surveyed so far and the results are indicating that the great crested newt is quite a widespread animal in these parts!

Another wind farm project in Beccles, Suffolk, for Stamford Renewables, has kept us occupied providing the full suite of protected species surveys including birds, bats and great crested newts. Further inland, we are also conducting bat surveys on four wind farms in Cambridgeshire.

Monitoring Local Wildlife Sites

A team from our Norwich office have been working closely with East Lindsey and North Kesteven District Councils in Linconshire to carry out a review of non-statutory sites of nature conservation importance. Habitat surveys are being carried out on over 200 such sites to see if they meet the new criteria for Local Wildlife Sites developed by the Lincolnshire Biodiversity Partnership. Those sites which meet the criteria will be confirmed as Local Wildlife Sites and identified as such in the emerging Local Development Framework for each district.

Ecology Consultancy helps Greater Manchester go greener

Soon the recycling of household waste will be a much more pleasant experience for the population of Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority is working with main contractor, Costain, to expand and upgrade its Housing Waste Recycling Centres. Ecology Consultancy has been taken on to help ensure that the resulting works will have little or no impact on wildlife in the area around each centre.

We are conducting a range of verification surveys, including species surveys, and tree and building inspections, at nearly 20 sites around Greater Manchester. So far we have found evidence of features that are of value to protected species, such as bats and newts and we are continuing to monitor the sites. As the works progress we will provide Costain with practical solutions for working around each habitat.

Practical solutions for managing wildlife

With the growing number of rail infrastructure projects in the pipeline there are bound to be a significant amount that will impact on ecology and wildlife. With good ecological management and advanced planning this needn't be a constraint. Our latest feature in Railway Strategies magazine outlines how we work closely with the rail industry to ease the process of working with protected species on site. For the full article follow the link.

Derelict waste ground or wildlife haven?

Brownfield sites are synonymous with fly-tipping, derelict land, remains of building infrastructure and often a seemingly impenetrable jungle of vegetation - something to be cleared up and returned to economically beneficial use as soon as possible. Indeed, the government urges developers to focus on such sites in order to ensure that all land is being efficiently utilised. John Newton, MD explains why brownfield sites are also be havens for protected species and what developers need to know to avoid problems. For the full article follow the link.


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