Work is commissioned by proponents, regulators, lenders, donors and community organisations.
Services
Survey design, field assessment and impact assessment for development projects.
Review of assessments before a decision, and audit of biodiversity obligations once a project is built and operating.
Ecological input to natural capital accounts and nature-related reporting.
Ecological assessment and verification for carbon projects and nature-based solutions.
Assessment, planning and monitoring for protected areas and restoration projects.
Independent ecological assessment and review for Indigenous and community organisations.
Independent review and audit
Ecological assessments, natural capital accounts and carbon project documents are long and technical, and they often determine whether a project proceeds. The people relying on them are rarely ecologists.
Verdea provides technical review of this work. That covers whether the survey or measurement effort was adequate, whether the method was applied correctly, and whether the conclusions follow from the data collected.
Built projects carry biodiversity conditions for the life of the operation, and most require periodic independent audit. Mines, wind and solar farms, transmission lines, roads and ports all fall into this category. Verdea audits what was approved against what has happened on the ground.
Review work is kept separate from assessment work. Where Verdea reviews a project, it has no other involvement in that project.
Sectors
Solar, wind and transmission projects.
Reforestation, blue carbon and restoration projects.
Protected area management and internationally funded conservation.
Road, rail and utility corridors.
Urban expansion, tourism and resort development.
Mine extensions, continuations and new operations.
About
Verdea is an independent environmental consultancy. Project teams are assembled from a network of specialist ecologists and technical staff to suit each assignment.
Principal Ecologist
Chris Wellington is an ecologist with 25 years of experience in environmental consulting and impact assessment.
His work covers biodiversity and ecological assessment, environmental impact assessment, conservation planning and the preparation of technical proposals.
He also manages projects, teams and field logistics, including work in remote locations. That extends to scientific research design and implementation, grant proposals, writing for scientific publication, mentoring and team building.
