Consultancy Services

Farming with Nature combines a unique blend of conservation and agricultural experience, to provide land advice that endeavours to achieve the best outcome for nature, whilst being realistic and economically sound. Whether you are a farmer with 100 acres who needs assistance with a stewardship application, or the owner of a small patch of land that you want to transform into a vibrant habitat, we offer variety of services that can cater to almost anyone who owns land and wishes to benefit the environment and it’s wildlife.  

We are comprised of a specialist two man team with a highly contrasting yet compatible background: Toby Fountain, is an obsessive naturalist with an in depth knowledge of ecology, botany, birds and insects, with a wealth of experience surveying habitats of all kinds across Herefordshire and Rebecca Meredith, a Herefordshire Farmer with twenty years’ experience on her family farm, as well as an in depth knowledge of agricultural and environmental law. We pride ourselves on being open and friendly individuals, which are approachable and transparent, keeping our clients well informed and involved in every stage of the land advice process.  

Services Provided: 

• General site visit and report: suitable for landowners, smallholders and businesses, this service will provide a broad overview of the significant habitats and species present on a site and advice on how to enhance the site for wildlife. We would usually conduct a walkover survey of your land holding and, in our report, summarise the key important habitats and species present, as well as provide some general advice on how your site can be enhanced and managed appropriately, with referral to your own ideas and vision. This service can be tailored to your needs and interests. 

• Stewardship/SFI applications: we are fully aware that the ever-changing world of Agri-environment schemes and their applications can be a bewildering and complex experience. With years of experience carrying out such applications as well as being keenly aware of the developments in the grant system, we can assess the realistic payment options for your land holding that will achieve the best outcome for your finances and wildlife.  
• Wildlife and habitat surveying: we offer an array of wildlife surveying services ranging from grassland surveys, woodland condition assessments and breeding bird surveys. Such surveys can be tailored to a specific outcome such as an application to an Agri-environment scheme or to enable your land to be registered on the Priority Habitats Inventory (PHI). Alternatively, it can be a more informal affair tailored to your own interests. We can also conduct general habitat surveying, in which habitats are mapped and categorised using nationally recognised frameworks such as Phase 1, UKhabs and NVC.  

• Habitat management plans: we have extensive experience writing management plans for a variety of different habitats ranging from woodlands, grasslands and ponds which maximise each habitat’s potential for wildlife. Our approach is to use management to create as diverse an ecosystem as possible that benefits the broadest array of species. Where a particular species or habitat is of very high conservation priority in the land holding, we may tailor the management plan to specifically focus on these due to their importance. Management plans may also correspond to the requirements of an agri-environmental scheme.

• Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG): BNG is a highly topical new system that obliges developers to create more habitats than they destroy in the process of construction. We can offer the corresponding habitat baseline surveys to calculate the number of BNG habitat units in a land holding and offer management advice if there is an obligation to improve and create habitats. We do not calculate or trade BNG credits in house but can advise on this. 
• Soil sampling: assessing soil is fundamental to understanding the productivity and ecological health of agricultural land. Assessing soil from the perspective of structure, organic matter, worm counts and water percolation, we can provide a deeper insight into your soil health and how it can be improved. 
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• Water quality testing: with so many of Britain’s rivers in ecological decline including Herefordshire’s iconic River Wye, assessing the health of watercourses is a highly important and topical ecological priority. We can provide in depth water quality testing to assess the health of your water course and also provide specialised advice on how to improve watercourse and water quality using natural flood-management (NFM) solutions and other natural interventions.