About Native Ecology
What is Native Ecology?
Native Ecology is a UK ecological consultancy delivering expert advice to architects, developers, planning consultants and homeowners. According to the homepage, it is "a CIEEM Registered Practice that offers an extensive range of ecology services, suitable to inform planning applications from small to large scale residential and commercial developments, through to wider landscape scale ecology strategy." The firm operates as Native Ecology LLP — a Limited Liability Partnership registered in England and Wales (number OC424800).
Founded in 2015, Native Ecology was recognised as CIEEM 2024's Small Consultancy of the Year — a flagship industry accolade displayed on the homepage and reinforced through the firm's active role in CIEEM events including the Kent Ecology Symposium. The CIEEM 2024 award profile (cieem.net) notes that Native Ecology "boasts a substantial client base in the south-east of England" and that "a successful 4-day work week trial, implemented in 2023, has yielded significant benefits including increased productivity, reduced stress, and enhanced work-life balance for employees."
The service catalogue spans the full development lifecycle: Planning Application stage (Ecological Impact Assessment, Preliminary Ecological Appraisal, Preliminary Roost Assessment for bats, Habitat Survey using QGIS, Protected Species Survey for bats / great crested newts / reptiles / dormice / water voles, Mitigation and Enhancement Strategies, full EcIA Report), Planning Approval stage (Habitat Creation and Enhancement, Natural England Licence Applications including European Protected Species Mitigation, Species Mitigation and Translocation, BREEAM UK Strategic Ecology Framework / Home Quality Mark / CEEQUAL credits), and Post-Development Ecological Monitoring and Management. Biodiversity Net Gain became mandatory for all major developments on 12 February 2024 and for Small Sites from April 2024, and Native Ecology guides developers through this process from the earliest stages of land acquisition.
Where will I work?
Native Ecology is based in Kent at Unit 90, Waterham Business Park, Highstreet Road, Waterham, Faversham, ME13 9EJ. The firm's "Working with Us" page describes "a small efficient team with a dynamic flexibility at the core of our setup" with a Chartered Ecologist (CEcol) at the helm. Day-to-day work mixes office time with extensive on-site field surveys — ecology and mitigation works can only be undertaken at certain times of year, and the team publishes a public Survey Calendar to help clients plan.
What is the Native Ecology team like?
The team is 13-strong with three Partners: Amy Wright MScR BSc (Hons) MCIEEM (Head of Ecology), Tara Hall BSc (Hons) ACIEEM (Principal Ecologist), and Adam Bedwell BSc (Hons) (Sustainability & Business Lead). Dani Sheehan is Office Manager. Principal Ecologist Calista Tardivel MSc BSc (Hons) leads the BNG technical work. Senior Ecologists Megan Knapp and Tom Hurst, Ecologists Jack Fox and John Rowland, Assistant Ecologists Sophie Edmonds, Owen King MSc BSc (Hons), Matthew Kelk and Rosie Creighton BA (Oxon), and Administration Assistant Catherine Hurst complete the team. All ecologists are CIEEM members bound by the institute's code of professional conduct, with additional expertise spanning Construction and Built Heritage, Archaeology, Environmental Management and Sustainability.
Work-Life Balance
Native Ecology operates a 4-day, 32-hour work week, implemented as a successful trial in 2023 per the CIEEM 2024 Small Consultancy of the Year profile. Verbatim: "A successful 4-day work week trial, implemented in 2023, has yielded significant benefits including increased productivity, reduced stress, and enhanced work-life balance for employees." Note that fieldwork-heavy roles (PEA, PRA, protected species surveys) are by nature site-based — they require flexible scheduling around survey calendar windows rather than a fully remote setup.
Perks and Benefits
The live careers page does not currently publish a detailed benefits list. The website itself is sustainably hosted with privacy-protecting analytics — consistent with the firm's ecology and sustainability ethos. Speculative applications welcome via [email protected].