CBEB announces enhanced Estate Management Service to take the stress out of ecological compliance Management of species and habitats is now an integral part of land-use planning and development. Most planning consents in Britain contain obligations to protect, manage and enhance ecological conditions for native wildlife, and to maintain standards of biodiversity and sustainability in line with government policy. Many sites and estates must operate under specific Conditions, e.g. a Section 106 or similar binding Agreement. In a more general sense, all those with operational or proprietorial responsibilities for sites and estates must comply with extant wildlife law which is both extensive and complex, as well as being increasingly strictly enforced. For example, there are more than six hundred species protected by law in Britain, and at least a dozen separate legislative instruments covering the protection of animals, plants and habitats, some of which are within the criminal law framework and carry significant penalties for offences.

All this can be quite a headache for busy land managers, site operators and owners, but there are three steps to take to compliance and peace of mind:

1. GET SOMEONE EXPERIENCED ON YOUR SIDE - You need objective science and people who put their clients first.

2. INVESTIGATE TO MAKE A PROPER DIAGNOSIS - It is essential fully to understand the site and its ecological constraints and context as well as the extent of any problem exactly in order to steer through the complex regulations and avoid the bad publicity and today's severe penalties for getting things wrong. Do not believe what others say until you have checked it out professionally.

3. IMPLEMENTATION - Carry out any remedial treatment if necessary (very few cases are incurable although the process can sometimes be unavoidably lengthy and expensive - be certain you hire the best expertise, as cheap fixes can be dangerous to the health your project). Design a long term Nature Conservation Management Plan for the site and implement the prescribed projects to meet and maintain the necessary standards for continued compliance.

CBEB's enhanced Estate Management Service takes the strain for you by providing all this in an integrated process - efficient, expert, reliable long-term ecological site care and monitoring.