Nature Advisory started life as Brett Lane & Associates in January 2001. Established by Zoologist Brett Lane, the business started work on some of the first commercial-scale wind farm development in Australia, assessing the impacts of these on birds and bats. Based on his preceding 20 years’ experience in ecological consulting, Brett soon established a reputation for understanding clients’ project needs, responding in a focussed and timely way, and giving clear advice on how biodiversity regulations should be addressed.
The company started operations from a small office in Mansfield in north eastern Victoria and, as client and team numbers grew, a move to Melbourne in 2004 cemented the company as one of Victoria’s leading ecological consultancies. Around the same time, there was a considerable step up in the complexity of Victoria’s native vegetation protection controls, leading to a number of VCAT cases Brett was involved in that established a clearer interpretation of those rules. By 2007, the core team of botanists, zoologists and project managers was in place.
This core team has overseen significant growth in the company’s technical knowledge set and client base. Notably, the Nature Advisory team now comprises long-standing team members who mentor new members in the way we do business, providing them with the opportunity to learn how biodiversity regulation works in a practical way. This has ensured that our team has excellent professional and personal development opportunities, learning from experienced consultants and progressing in their career paths as the company has grown. This ensures that the team remains true to its founding values of approachability, technical rigour and responsiveness, ensuring that our clients receive high-quality service and deliverables.
In 2019, Nature Advisory was launched recognising the great contribution of the whole team and the need to further expand the scope and quality of our services. Additional Directors and shareholders came on board at this time to carry the team forward as an employee-owned company, and to continue the tradition of building experience and applying knowledge to solve problems for our clients.