Maria has been working at Smeeden Foreman for over 10 years and has held membership with the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management since 2018.

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Heading up the ecology team, Maria has extensive experience of ecology requirements for supporting planning applications and has worked on a wide range of projects including large residential and commercial schemes in both the public and private sector. She regularly provides technical advice to clients and design teams on ecology and biodiversity issues surrounding planning and development, from the identification of initial ecology constraints through to post-planning discharge of conditions.

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Maria holds species licences for surveying great crested newt, bats and barn owl and is certified as a CS38 tree climber. She has a strong background in protected species survey including bats, breeding birds, otter, reptiles, great crested newt, water vole and badger and has been involved with multiple projects as an Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW). Maria has compiled management and enhancement plans, ecological design strategies and supervised procurement of mitigation licences. Maria plays a key role in developing pragmatic solutions for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) using metrics and collaborates effectively with her team to maximise realistic gains for clients.

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Outside of work, Maria surveys for the British Trust for Ornithology and holds a C bird ringing permit. She has previously undertaken a range of survey work across the UK for various organisations including the Wildlife Trust and RSPB.