Bernie Fleming

Bernie Fleming is the owner, Principal and sole employee of Fleming Ecology, an independent consultancy working across science, policy and practice to provide pragmatic advice on the Nature Directives and biodiversity throughout the UK and Europe.  A native English speaker, he is an accomplished written and verbal communicator, practised in knowledge-based facilitation with experience from the UK and beyond.

He enjoyed a 21 year career with the state institutes for nature conservation in England (Natural England and English Nature) where he gained extensive first-hand experience of the survey, identification, management and safeguard of numerous upland, lowland and coastal Natura 2000 site.  Examples include some of the largest wetland restoration schemes in England and the protection of fragile sites from intense port development.

As a freelance ecologist he has contributed to the accession programme in Poland, led multi-national workshops for the Alpine and Mediterranean themes of New Biogeographical Process and, subsequently, the restoration of alpine rivers with the Carpathian Wetland Initiative amongst others.  He is an expert on the management and protection of Natura 2000 sites having produced a number of management plans and appropriate assessments.  He also contributed to the Dutch Ministry of Environmental Assessment (PBL) publication ‘MY NATURE, YOUR NATURE: Nature Outlook: perspectives on the future of nature in Europe’ (2016).

Bernie sits on the editorial board of the Habitats Regulations Journal which accompanies the award-winning Habitats Regulations Assessment Handbook.  Elsewhere, Bernie is a member of the Nature Conservation Working Party of the UK Environmental Law Associationand sits on the Conservation Committee of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust. Also retained by the Council of Europeand Wageningen Environmental Researchto advise on European biodiversity policy and practice.