Under the EC EIA Directive, EIA is a mandatory requirement for proposals listed in Annex 1 and Annex 2 projects that are likely to have significant environmental effects. They may also form part of assessments that are undertaken on a voluntary basis or as separate, freestanding studies.

Permanent staff at the practice offer the expertise necessary to undertake ecological impact assessments (EcIA) for both public and private clients. The guidelines we follow are those set out by the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) and typically involve the following procedures:

• Scoping exercise
  
  
• Identification of key ecological features
  
  
• Evaluation of key ecological features
  
  
• Prediction of impacts
  
  
• Assessment of impact significance and implications
  
  
• Development of mitigation strategies
  
  
• Review of residual impacts