Thomson Environmental Consultants named on Environment Agency framework

04 February 2025 Consultancy.uk

Thomson Environment Consultants has expanded its client portfolio after being appointed to the Environment Agency’s Ecological Framework. The firm will now work to help Defra organisations to improve the UK’s aquatic environment.

Over the past few years, discourse regarding nature conservation has shifted rapidly across Europe and the world. As the world faces unprecedented ecological challenges, there is now a growing appetite for ‘rewilding’. That means that rather than preserving an ever more precarious status quo, a number of countries have actively sought to restore and enhance natural processes and core wilderness areas.

Aquatic habitats are some of the worst-impacted by human activity globally – and therefore a key element of the process of healing the natural world. To help expedite the process in the UK, the Environment Agency has launched a framework through which public bodies can contract professional services organisations best positioned to oversee related projects.

The Environment Agency’s four-year Framework for Ecological Services 4 (EcoSF4) covers four lots: specialist macroinvertebrate services, habitat and species surveys, geomorphology, river restoration and habitat creation services, and fish passage design services.

As part of this, Thomson Environmental Consultants has been appointed as an approved contractor to carry out specialist macroinvertebrate services, and for the next four years, will work with Defra group organisations in fulfilling their legal duties and protecting and improving the aquatic environment.

The technical and regulatory work completed across the framework will contribute to long-term goals such as improved water quality, biodiversity, and flood risk management. Habitat and species surveys will support the Government’s Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) 2023 species abundance and extinction risk targets. Restoration efforts will reduce flooding, restore habitats, and improve fish movement by enhancing geomorphological, hydrological, and ecological processes. Nature-based fish passage designs will benefit multiple species, ecological connectivity, and habitat creation.

With offices in Guildford, Leeds, Cardiff, Birmingham, and Manchester, Thomson Environmental Consultants will support the Environment Agency with macroinvertebrate services required for international, national, and local drivers and local investigatory and regulatory needs. The firm is now actively recruiting a senior freshwater ecological consultant to help deliver the services under the EcoSF4 framework.

Emily Trill, freshwater team lead at Thomson, commented, “We’re delighted to be appointed to the Ecological Services Framework and excited to work with Defra Group organisations to apply our technical expertise to deliver critical projects that meet statutory duties and address ever-increasing water environment pressures.”