PJC Consultancy Ltd

CELEBRATING WOMEN IN ECOLOGY ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY The past few decades have seen a rise in environmental movements concurrent with the growing momentum of women's rights movements. Therefore, I am keen to celebrate my work anniversary alongside International Women’s Day, by looking back on some of my experiences, and honouring my female role models in ecology.   Studying at Swansea University, provided me with field work opportunities along the rocky shores and ancient woodlands, which was paramount to the development of my passion for wildlife conservation. A year into my career and my fieldwork and report writing skills have further evolved. Stand out projects I’ve been involved in include standing neck deep in a pond, translocating amphibians to new homes, to discovering a hibernating brown long eared bat roost, and observing a mother badger raising her two cubs. Completing this field work has been a blast, however, producing mitigation and compensation strategies for protected species and habitats has been the real challenge to unfold.   The presence of women in leadership positions initialised my interest in STEM and empowered me to overcome the barriers and challenges that women face in professional spaces. Becoming a member of CIEEM was high on my list when embarking on my career, especially due to the work of Sally Hayns CEO. With a similar start as myself, growing up in London then perusing studies in Wales, I find her career path intriguing and the space she has created for women in professional ecology settings is invaluable.   Jane Goodall is a world-renowned conservationist, who worked closely with primates, publishing ground-breaking behavioural research which had a profound impact on our understanding of primates and biodiversity conservation. Her work has showed us that women can have successful professional ecology research careers.   Wangari Maathai, has led one of the most impactful environmental movements as the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Green Belt Movement. This scheme empowers women through the planting of trees to battle the global deforestation crisis, while boosting young women’s economic empowerment and environmental justice. Resulting in over 30,000 women trained in forestry and associated trades, while preserving habitats. I also want to celebrate PJC's Senior Ecologist Nicolle Stevens for receiving her class two bat licence and Ecologist Naomi Cornwell submitting her application for her class one bat licence this year. Ecology is an ever-growing industry, and now is the time for women in STEM to get involved with conserving our wildlife whilst continuing to promote gender equality and diversity. I am excited for the women of today and to see what the future generation conservation initiatives and research will bring. By Jess Malim   #ecology #internanationalwomensday #wildlifeconservation #internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinscience

CELEBRATING WOMEN IN ECOLOGY ON INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY The past few decades have seen a rise in environmental movements concurrent with the growing momentum of women's rights movements. Therefore, I am keen to celebrate my work anniversary alongside International Women’s Day, by looking back on some of my experiences, and honouring my female role models in ecology.   Studying at Swansea University, provided me with field work opportunities along the rocky shores and ancient woodlands, which was paramount to the development of my passion for wildlife conservation. A year into my career and my fieldwork and report writing skills have further evolved. Stand out projects I’ve been involved in include standing neck deep in a pond, translocating amphibians to new homes, to discovering a hibernating brown long eared bat roost, and observing a mother badger raising her two cubs. Completing this field work has been a blast, however, producing mitigation and compensation strategies for protected species and habitats has been the real challenge to unfold.   The presence of women in leadership positions initialised my interest in STEM and empowered me to overcome the barriers and challenges that women face in professional spaces. Becoming a member of CIEEM was high on my list when embarking on my career, especially due to the work of Sally Hayns CEO. With a similar start as myself, growing up in London then perusing studies in Wales, I find her career path intriguing and the space she has created for women in professional ecology settings is invaluable.   Jane Goodall is a world-renowned conservationist, who worked closely with primates, publishing ground-breaking behavioural research which had a profound impact on our understanding of primates and biodiversity conservation. Her work has showed us that women can have successful professional ecology research careers.   Wangari Maathai, has led one of the most impactful environmental movements as the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize for founding the Green Belt Movement. This scheme empowers women through the planting of trees to battle the global deforestation crisis, while boosting young women’s economic empowerment and environmental justice. Resulting in over 30,000 women trained in forestry and associated trades, while preserving habitats. I also want to celebrate PJC's Senior Ecologist Nicolle Stevens for receiving her class two bat licence and Ecologist Naomi Cornwell submitting her application for her class one bat licence this year. Ecology is an ever-growing industry, and now is the time for women in STEM to get involved with conserving our wildlife whilst continuing to promote gender equality and diversity. I am excited for the women of today and to see what the future generation conservation initiatives and research will bring. By Jess Malim   #ecology #internanationalwomensday #wildlifeconservation #internationaldayofwomenandgirlsinscience

COULD BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN BEAR FRUIT FOR KENT’S TRADITIONAL ORCHARD? Our director shares his thoughts on the loss of the traditional orchard, and what we can do to revive these unique wildlife havens. #traditionalorchard #orchards #wildlifeconservation #naturerecovery #wildlifemitigation #naturebasedsolutions #ecologist

COULD BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN BEAR FRUIT FOR KENT’S TRADITIONAL ORCHARD? Our director shares his thoughts on the loss of the traditional orchard, and what we can do to revive these unique wildlife havens. #traditionalorchard #orchards #wildlifeconservation #naturerecovery #wildlifemitigation #naturebasedsolutions #ecologist

PJC ecologists are now accredited to undertake River Condition Assessments. The ‘River Condition Assessment’, which comprises two components: a MoRPh field survey and a River Type desk-based study, forms an important part of ‘The Statutory Biodiversity Metric’ which in-turn is used to calculate ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’. As part of your ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ obligations, if a watercourse (i.e. river, stream, canal) falls within your application site or is within 10m of your application site boundary, then a formal River Condition Assessment will likely be required. In accordance with ‘The Statutory Biodiversity Metric’ User Guidance, the ‘River Condition Assessment’ must be undertaken by someone who has the relevant training and accreditation. Please get in touch if you need a River Condition Assessment or any assistance with Biodiversity Net Gain. https://lnkd.in/evkfiVZ8

COULD BIODIVERSITY NET GAIN BEAR FRUIT FOR KENT’S TRADITIONAL ORCHARD? Our director shares his thoughts on the loss of the traditional orchard, and what we can do to revive these unique wildlife havens. #traditionalorchard #orchards #wildlifeconservation #naturerecovery #wildlifemitigation #naturebasedsolutions #ecologist

PJC ecologists are now accredited to undertake River Condition Assessments. The ‘River Condition Assessment’, which comprises two components: a MoRPh field survey and a River Type desk-based study, forms an important part of ‘The Statutory Biodiversity Metric’ which in-turn is used to calculate ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’. As part of your ‘Biodiversity Net Gain’ obligations, if a watercourse (i.e. river, stream, canal) falls within your application site or is within 10m of your application site boundary, then a formal River Condition Assessment will likely be required. In accordance with ‘The Statutory Biodiversity Metric’ User Guidance, the ‘River Condition Assessment’ must be undertaken by someone who has the relevant training and accreditation. Please get in touch if you need a River Condition Assessment or any assistance with Biodiversity Net Gain. https://lnkd.in/evkfiVZ8

Another successful planning application supported by PJC. This was a challenging but highly rewarding project for our arboricultural team to be part of.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will apply to most new major development under the Town and Country Planning Act (TCPA) from January 2024 and to small sites from April 2024.    You will likely have to provide a BNG assessment report which in a nutshell compares pre-development (baseline) ‘biodiversity’ value to post-development ‘biodiversity’ value. This is calculated using the DEFRA biodiversity metric which assesses both area-based habitats (i.e. woodland, grassland) and linear-based habitats (i.e. hedgerow) separately.   However, if a watercourse (river, stream, canal) falls within OR immediately adjacent (within 10m) your development site then you will also be expected to assess watercourses.   The DEFRA biodiversity metric includes a condition assessment for area-based habitats, linear-based habitats and watercourses.   Watercourse condition assessments are slightly different in that you must be accredited to undertake them.   At present there appears to be very few ecological consultants who are accredited to undertake this watercourse condition assessment.   However, some of the PJC ecology team are currently undergoing an intensive River Condition Assessment training course involving a combination of presentations, field surveys, desk-based assessments and trainer-led live ‘stream’ conferences and hope to become accredited very early next year.   Slightly outside of their normal comfort zone, as there is a massive emphasis on river geography and processes, the team are ‘flowing’ with enthusiasm and finding it a ‘river-ting’ challenge and are looking to put their new skills to the test. #rivers #ecology #biodiversitynetgain #biodiversity #wildlifeconservation #ecologist #waterquality #keeplearning #defra