Biotope has become a shareholder in BioConsult SH since September 2022, as well as in our subsidiary HiDef Aerial Surveying in the UK. The three companies, which have already been cooperating for several years, form a European alliance with over 800 employees offering ecological surveys and environmental impact studies. The three companies will now significantly expand their innovation capacities in the areas of ecological research and consulting in order to offer new services that meet the growing demand for scientifically sound decision support in all environmental matters.
Conservation issues without borders
The three organisations share a common vision and a common goal: to obtain the most reliable and objective data possible on a large scale in order to produce the most robust environmental impact studies possible, and thus to define and implement the most efficient conservation projects and measures in all areas. This pooling of competencies and technologies is a response to the major transboundary challenges in environmental protection.
Long-term partners
After more than seven years of intensive cooperation, Biotope, BioConsult SH and HiDef Aerial Surveying are pooling their competences and technologies, especially for marine mammal and seabird research, against the background of a strong development of renewable energies in the marine sector. This alliance is primarily for cross-border aerial environmental monitoring, but also for assessing environmental issues and advising on the environmental impact of large-scale marine projects such as offshore wind farms.
Georg Nehls, Managing Director of BioConsult SH:
"We are very pleased to join forces with Biotope to promote biodiversity. Such a group of companies specialising in environmental monitoring and ecology has not existed in Europe before. This alliance will enable us to significantly increase our capacity to collect reliable, large-scale datasets, analyse them and thus gain a better understanding of the phenomena of species movements, avoidance and disturbance and ultimately the adaptation (or non-adaptation) of their populations to current and/or future marine infrastructures. Together, we will greatly expand our efforts to develop and implement new technologies, particularly in the area of artificial intelligence for ecological data collection. "
Frederic Melki, President Biotope:
"We are pleased to build on a long-standing partnership with friendly companies that share common values and interests. We work together on complex issues for projects that span multiple regions of Europe, and we have found over the last few years the value of being able to rely on teams working in different, complementary fields. This is particularly the case with the numerous offshore wind farm projects. It is also a way of responding to the concerns of our clients - companies, local authorities, government agencies, NGOs - whose projects require technical, legal and economic capacities adapted to their needs. The aim is to remain independent so that ecology remains independent of financial, industrial or energy issues. Our goal is to continue the development of the various entities by strengthening synergies at the geographical, technical, legal, but also human level."
Numerous synergies
The merger with Biotope, which is already present in all parts of the world with its 30 offices in France and internationally, strengthens BioConsult SH's position in Europe and in an increasingly international market of ecological studies. BioConsult SH has also been strengthened since 2016 by HiDef Aerial Surveying Ltd. from the UK, in order to benefit from their expertise in the field of aerial surveys of marine mammals and birds as well as ecological marine research. The three companies complement each other with their different specialisations, which we will jointly expand and offer internationally in the future.
Further information:
Biotope: https://www.biotope.fr/
HiDef Aerial Surveying: https://www.hidefsurveying.co.uk/