22 Jul Nature Advisory welcomes ‘Kitty’ to the team

Nature Advisory (formerly Brett Lane & Associates) is Australia’s leader in the development and delivery of bird and bat Adaptive Management Plans (BBAMPs) for wind farms. Our plans have been approved by regulators in Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales. A key part of implementing these plans is monitoring the impact wind farms have on these species and this involves searching under turbines looking for birds or bats that may have been impacted by the turbines.

To assist in this specialist work, the zoological team at Nature Advisory has recently welcomed Kitty, a Springer Spaniel, into the team. Kitty has been specially trained by Steve Austin, a well-renowned dog trainer, particularly for this task. Kitty has a keen sense of smell, loves to work and can detect targets from great distances.

Nature Advisory is committed to the highest levels of accuracy in delivering monitoring program for BBAMPs. Kitty and her handlers have been certified in the Canine Detection Certification of Australia. As a highly trained sniffer dog, Kitty works in the field alongside our zoological team to efficiently deliver BBAMP monitoring programs.

The use of dogs for detection demonstrates the commitment of our wind farm clients and Nature Advisory to the highest levels of accuracy in delivering BBAMPs, giving confidence to the community, government and regulators that this industry is working to the highest ethical and environmental standards.

A key part of this activity is to ensure that landowners who have sheep feel comfortable with the activity and Nature Advisory works closely with all landowners to ensure that this is the case.

Nature Advisory not only develops BBAMPs but is able to deliver an end to end service for wind farms from the earliest planning phases through to operational audits. Call or email Bernard O’Callaghan at Nature Advisory to discuss wind farm assessments and how we can help.