Ecology, BNG and Protected Species
Ecology surveys, biodiversity net gain, protected species licences and survey seasons.
Latest in Ecology, BNG and Protected Species
151 articlesLocal nature recovery strategies and the metric multiplier
A habitat identified in a local nature recovery strategy attracts a higher strategic significance multiplier. That makes the local habitat map a layout document, not a submission document.
Ancient woodland buffers and the evidence behind them
A 15 metre buffer of semi-natural habitat is the starting point, measured from the woodland edge rather than the inventory polygon. The pressures it addresses and the evidence that moves the figure.
SSSI impact risk zones and what they actually trigger
An impact risk zone is a consultation trigger, not a designation. How to check the layer on MAGIC and planning.data.gov.uk, read the development categories, and give Natural England what it needs first time.
When a preliminary appraisal becomes an impact assessment
The appraisal is a constraints document and the assessment judges effects on important features. Which triggers force escalation, how the survey calendar differs, and how to write the brief.
Programming a scheme around bat survey seasons
A preliminary roost assessment can be done in any month, but emergence and re-entry surveys are limited to the maternity season. Survey effort by roost potential, and how to keep the rest of the scheme moving.
The degradation rule and your biodiversity net gain baseline
Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 reverts the pre-development biodiversity value to its pre-clearance level where habitat was degraded after 30 January 2020.
Biodiversity net gain unit types: three separate tests
The statutory biodiversity metric reports area habitat, hedgerow and watercourse units separately, and each module present in the baseline needs its own 10 per cent gain. Pooled figures get gain plans rejected.
Marsh fritillary, dormice and the survey calendar
Ecology survey windows are biological facts, not conventions. A calendar built at the start of a project is the difference between a 12 month programme and a 24 month one.
Natural England discretionary advice and when to buy it
Natural England's chargeable advice service earns its fee on bespoke licences, designated sites and Habitats Regulations screening. On conventional schemes the free standing advice does the same job.
Ecology and demolition: sequencing surveys before the machines
Stripping a roof is the moment the offence happens. Surveys, licence, soft strip and a stop works protocol have to be sequenced before the machines arrive.
Creating a pond for biodiversity net gain, and keeping it
Ponds reach target condition faster than almost any other created habitat, which is why they appear in so many gain plans. Meeting the condition criteria for 30 years is the harder part.
Reptile population size class assessment and consequences
The population band assigned to each reptile species sets the mitigation scale and often the project programme. How the count is derived, where it is disputed and what follows.
Otter holts, survey timing and licensing on river sites
Otter resting places are protected in their own right, and otters can breed at any time of year. What a field sign survey records, how the licence tests work and which conditions follow.
Preliminary ecological appraisal: what it can conclude
A preliminary ecological appraisal answers what might be here and what to find out. Treating it as a clearance certificate is what turns ecology into a programme problem.
Soil translocation and the receptor site search
Most failed translocations had a sound method statement and the wrong receiving site. How to run the search, secure the land and monitor what you move.
Dormouse surveys, nest tubes and connectivity mitigation
Nest tube checks are weighted by month and you need a cumulative score before absence can be concluded. What that means for the programme, the licence and the hedgerow design.
Translocation of habitats: turf, seed and soil transfer
Translocation moves a habitat rather than recreating one. The metric discounts it heavily, and the receptor site decides whether it works at all.
Lighting design for bats: lux limits and spill control
Bat lighting conditions fail when the drawing stops at the red line. Target around 1 lux on sensitive features, show contours beyond the boundary, and design the dark corridor first.
Wintering bird surveys and when a scheme needs them
Wintering bird surveys follow the birds rather than the site boundary. The October to March season puts a hard floor under the programme, so scope it in the summer.
Nutrient neutrality: calculating a scheme's budget
A nutrient budget turns future residents into kilogrammes of nitrogen a year. The inputs that move the answer and the evidence Natural England expects.
Off-site units and the registration of gain sites
Units only count once the land is registered, secured for 30 years and allocated to your application. The sequence, the costs and where deals come apart.
Irreplaceable habitats and why net gain cannot compensate
Ancient woodland and veteran trees are outside the biodiversity metric. What bespoke compensation means, what the buffers exclude, and how status is proved.
Invasive species on site and the planning consequences
Knotweed and the rest of the Schedule 9 list reach planning through the ecology report and the biodiversity metric. The duties attach to spreading and disposing, not to presence.
Watching brief conditions for reptile clearance
Supervised staged clearance is the lighter alternative to capture and translocation. It is defensible on small populations with adjacent habitat, and weak without it.
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