David Smith has been involved in managing the countryside for most of his working life. He was born and grew up on his family farm in Gloucestershire, he attended the Royal Agricultural College and went straight on to manage the largest sheep farm in Southern England on the South Downs. Whilst there he negotiated an arrangement with The National Trust to wild graze 500 acres of Downland to enable the control of scrub growth and so help with the maintenance of rare wildlife habitats. On his return to Gloucestershire he took over the running of the family farm and an adjoining game shoot. During his time on the farm he was instrumental in securing SSSI status for the extensive original water meadows thus ensuring their ongoing protected status. Sadly, his father’s untimely death, meant the farm had to be sold. After crewing on a yacht sailing from Antigua to Antibes and a brief time working in Financial Services and Retail Project Management he returned to working “on the land” in the Commercial Landscaping industry. Working alongside many of the Tier 1&2 Construction companies, the Environment Agency and Local Authorities, as well as smaller developers and private individuals he has built a growing reputation for his knowledge and skills in establishing and maintaining Wildflower Meadows along with using his experience to manage Wildlife Habitats and Woodland, both newly planted and existing. When offered the chance to manage a 120 acre Private Estate in the Cotswolds with the remit to develop the land and grounds in the most environmentally responsible way possible, he jumped at the chance. As well as establishing new Wildflower Meadows and woodland areas, he concentrated on revitalising the 70 acres of existing, neglected woodland into wildlife habitats which saw colonisation with deer, rabbits, badgers, foxes, birds of prey and rare species of insect, butterflies and moths. In addition with, carefully managed grazing strategies he achieved an influx of new species of wildflowers and rare grasses into the existing old meadow grassland. With his services in demand he is now available to consult on all aspects of landscaping project management along with wildflower and wildlife habitat establishment and management.