Clarkson & Woods, formally known as Michael Woods Associates, is an ecological consultancy based in Somerset. We provide a range of services, principally to the construction industry, and always in relation to the survey, assessment, protection and conservation of British wildlife and habitats.



As an established consultancy, founded in the early 1990's by Michael Woods, former president of the Mammal Society, Clarkson & Woods has a strong reputation for quality and our clients value our practical, client-focussed advice.

We aim to balance our client's needs with the importance of maintaining a rich biodiversity on the site and conserving protected species. Our staff are all highly qualified and experts in surveying sites for protected species and providing advice on appropriate measures to protect wildlife whilst not unnecessarily constraining projects. We have particularly good working relationships with many of the local planning authority ecologists and where sites are found to have complex ecological constraints we find that consultation can help to smooth the planning application process.

We are conscious that in the current economic climate the costs associated with ecological surveys can often be another financial burden upon already heavily constrained projects. We are constantly striving to keep the costs of our survey and mitigation work to a minimum and believe we offer some of the most cost effective services within the industry.

"Clarkson & Woods were fantastic on our domestic project, when a potential risk of bats emerged within an existing barn in Bath. They guided us through the planning process pragmatically and professionally. They liaised well with the planners and site team, always responded quickly to queries and produced an excellent report. I cannot speak highly enough of them and would thoroughly recommend the company for any future ecological work."

Jenni Radford, Individual

"Clarkson & Woods display an in-depth knowledge of a range of ecological specialities and this knowledge coupled with their understanding of the practical limitations of application has been invaluable in helping us to continue developments on our site, Tom and Polly are not only both very competent but also easy to get along with which has aided us form a very strong working relationship which helps us work together to achieve our mutual aims, I would recommend them most highly."

Paul Flanagan, Viridor

"Despite being one of the most complicated and sizeable plans which we have received, the mitigation plan from Clarkson & Woods was also one of the clearest and most detailed we have seen. Dealing with an unusually large range of rare bat species and other protected species, the plan more than fulfilled all our criteria and has been chosen to be used as an example of best practise in the future. We look forward to working with the consultancy again."

Dr Annabel King, Natural Environment Team, Dorset County Council

"Clarkson & Woods have been our preferred ecology consultant for some time now. We have absolute trust in them to carry out their work diligently and professionally, keeping us on the right side of the relevant legislation. They are also excellent problem solvers and have been instrumental in unsticking a number of projects when things have been stuck, non-more so than in our Lackford solar farm development where stone curlews nest. Their input not only helped to deliver a consent for a fantastic project but helped Inazin and Low Carbon to win the 2014 Solar Power Portal award for the best utility scale solar farm."

James Hartley, Head of Planning, Inazin