“Filming Ecologist” Support

Key Info

The prime objective of ecological support, during filming activities which are undertaken in the natural countryside rather than in recognised film studios, is to ensure that international, national and local legislation, as well as the terms of any environmental agency licences, in respect of legally protected species and habitats are adhered to, whilst obtaining the required artistic and dramatic results.

Filming Ecologist Activities

There doesn’t appear to be a universal title for activities associated with filming whilst ensuring species and habitats are protected, although ecological support of film production or filming ecologist support have been used. Nevertheless, the principal activities might include:

  • Walk-over reconnaissance visits of the selected locations to understand the requirements of the filming operations.
  • Desk studies to determine any potential constraints imposed upon or incurred through use of the desired locations.
  • Local Ecological Record Checks to determine which Protected and Priority species and habitats might be present in the proposed film locations. 
  • Surveys to determine whether specific protected or priority species/habitats would be affected by work at the proposed locations.
  • The design and documentation of any mitigations that would be required to protect nominated species and habitats.
  • Preparation of submissions to obtain Environmental Agency (EA), eg National Resources Wales, Natural England, etc, licences for the proposed film work.
  • Interpretation of any conditions included within the EA licence documents and briefing of production teams and sub-contractors on precautions to be taken.
  • Ecological advice to the production crews on the installation or use of mitigating equipment or procedures to protect species and habitats and to satisfy EA licence specifications.
  • Advice to production managers and teams on locations for stages and filming equipment to minimise damage or disturbance to the local flora and fauna.
  • Ecological supervision of some activities and teams to ensure that appropriate species/habitats are protected and that licence conditions are satisfied.
  • Pre-filming surveys to ensure all areas used during filming operations are clear of protected/priority species (birds, mammals, etc).

We have conducted filming ecologist duties for a variety of filming operations in a number of locations in England and Wales, so if you need ecological support for your filming operations please do not hesitate to contact us.

To see other ecological services that we can undertake, follow this link.