Biodiversity surveys and inventories are often essential for progressing a development project or spatial plan, but commissioning and managing them can be complex. Selecting the right specialist, defining the objectives and scope of the surveys, ensuring appropriate timing, and interpreting the results in context are critical to obtaining the information needed for decision-making rather than treating surveys as a mere formality.
A poorly managed survey process can result in:
- delays in planning and permitting processes;
- avoidable additional or repeat surveys;
- legal disputes and uncertainty in decision-making.
- Professional coordination helps ensure that the right questions are addressed at the right time, surveys are tailored to the needs of the project or planning process, and the results are reliable, relevant and fit for informed decision-making.
Anni Kurisman
Our Experience
Hendrikson DGE is an experienced partner in coordinating biodiversity surveys and inventories. We have assisted clients with both expert assessments of individual species and large-scale, multidisciplinary inventories.
Our role is to bring together the client’s needs, the specialist expertise of survey teams, and the requirements of spatial planning and environmental assessment processes. We help ensure that:
- surveys meet legal requirements and the actual needs of the project;
- survey methods and timing are fit for purpose;
- results are interpreted in context and provide the information needed for subsequent planning and development decisions.
What does our survey and inventory coordination service include?
Comprehensive management and expert support for biodiversity surveys throughout the process:
1. Preparing terms of reference
We help prepare clear and fit-for-purpose terms of reference that meet both legal requirements and the specific needs of the development project or spatial plan.
2. Selecting experts and survey teams
We identify specialists and survey teams suited to the objectives of the assignment. Surveys we coordinate include, among others:
- ornithological surveys;
- wildlife surveys;
- botanical surveys;
- bat surveys;
- amphibian surveys;
- Natura 2000 habitat type inventories;
- surveys of woodland key habitats and other important biodiversity features.
Our team also has in-house expertise in wildlife and amphibian ecology and extensive fieldwork experience in wildlife and amphibian surveys. Depending on the objectives and scale of the project, we can carry out the required surveys with our own team or involve additional species specialists and survey partners.
3. Coordinating the survey process
We manage schedules, communication and workflows and ensure that surveys follow the agreed terms of reference and deliver the necessary results at the right time
4. Interpreting results and integrating them into planning
We help interpret survey findings in context and integrate them into spatial planning, environmental assessment processes and specific planning and development decisions.
Contact Us
If a development project or spatial plan requires biodiversity surveys or inventories, professional coordination can save time, avoid unnecessary delays and repeat surveys, and ensure that the results provide the information needed for informed decision-making.
Email us: dge@dge.ee