About us
Where land
meets water
Aqua Terrain is a small team of environmental contractors who have spent careers wading, surveying, planting and rebuilding the edges of British freshwater.
We are equally at home producing a scientific report on fish population dynamics and standing waist-deep weaving hazel into a chestnut-post revetment.
We work quietly, methodically and with a long view. Every site we touch should be in better health a decade after we leave it than the day we arrived.
Four principles
we don't compromise on.
Native only
We do not supply non-native species. Every planting scheme uses what already belongs in the British landscape.
Habitat first
Construction choices are weighed for their long-term ecological consequence — not just the brief in front of us.
Evidence-led
Detailed surveys, water quality data and population dynamics underpin every recommendation we make.
Considered craft
From a single woven hazel revetment to a year-round maintenance contract, the standard of care does not change.
James Hawkey
BSc (Hons) Fisheries & Aquaculture · BSc (Hons) Marine Biology & Coastal Ecology
James holds a BSc (Hons) in fisheries and aquaculture, and a BSc (Hons) in marine biology and coastal ecology, and has extensive knowledge and experience in the industry. Aqua Terrain was founded out of a passion for the freshwater environment, and the desire to improve habitats for fish, improve biodiversity, and maintain aquatic ecosystems for future generations to enjoy.
Alongside Aqua Terrain, he currently lectures part time in fisheries and countryside management at Hadlow College. Previous experience in fisheries management includes work carried out at Aquamaintain Ltd, Aquascience Ltd, and Enviroaqua.
Our commitments
Aqua Terrain is built on a small set of working principles — the standards we hold ourselves to on every site, with every client, in every season.
Communicate openly
We speak fully and frankly with our clients, colleagues and partners — in a co-operative spirit, from first call to final handover.
Adapt and innovate
Every water is different. We bring decades of field experience to bear, but we're never afraid to try a smarter approach.
Work safely
All operations are conducted to the highest practical standards of effectiveness and safety — for our team, our clients and the habitat.
Engage respectfully
We engage with all parties — including members of the public — in an open, polite and informative manner, wherever the work takes us.
“We don't see a project; we see a habitat. And a habitat is measured in decades, not invoices.”
How the practice grew
Hands in the water
Aqua Terrain began with a single commitment — that British freshwater deserves people who know it intimately, season after season.
Two disciplines, one craft
We grew the practice on a deliberate balance of fieldwork and science: weaving hazel one week, ageing scales under the lens the next.
Across the UK
We work on private estates, club fisheries, nature reserves and stillwaters — always native, always evidence-led.
A practice that spans
the whole waterline.
Tell us about
your water.
Every project begins with a quiet walk around the bank. We'll arrange a site visit at your convenience.