Ecology, BNG and Protected Species – Page 6
Ecology surveys, biodiversity net gain, protected species licences and survey seasons.
Ecology, BNG and Protected Species articles – page 6
151 articlesDistrict level licensing for newts against the survey route
A conservation payment and strategic pond creation, or a spring survey season and a mitigation licence. How to choose between the two newt routes on evidence.
Bat low impact class licences and registered consultants
The bat low impact class licence trades scope for speed. What qualifies, who can register as a consultant, and where a bespoke mitigation licence is still the only route.
The three derogation tests for a protected species licence
The three tests in regulation 55 are cumulative, and the alternatives test is the one most often under-evidenced. What each requires, and how the planning decision and the licence fit together.
Bat emergence and re-entry surveys: visits, timing, weather
Low roost potential means one visit, moderate two, high three. The season, the times relative to sunset and sunrise, and the weather conditions all decide whether a visit counts.
Conservation covenants and responsible bodies in practice
Created by the Environment Act 2021, a conservation covenant binds whoever owns the land next and lasts indefinitely over freehold unless the deed says otherwise. What landowners should check first.
Securing the 30 year management and monitoring obligation
Delivering the units is the easy part. Holding the habitat in the right condition for three decades, through two changes of ownership, is what the legal mechanism has to survive.
Habitat condition assessment: who does it and how
Condition scoring decides more biodiversity units than habitat area does, and it is the part of a metric submission a local authority ecologist will test first.
Irreplaceable habitats and why net gain does not apply
The statutory metric cannot value ancient woodland, so net gain does not solve an irreplaceable habitat problem. Avoidance and bespoke compensation are the only routes, and national policy sets a high bar for both.
What goes in a biodiversity gain plan and when it is approved
A biodiversity gain plan is not part of the planning application. It comes after permission, before any work starts, and the council has to approve it.
Swift bricks, bat boxes and biodiversity conditions
Enhancement conditions ask for integral nest bricks and bat boxes on most new housing. Placement, orientation and cavity detailing decide whether they work.
Preliminary roost assessment: what the categories mean
A preliminary roost assessment grades a building for bat roost potential. The category it returns decides whether you can apply this month or wait for the survey season.
Open mosaic habitat on brownfield land and the metric
The brownfield site everyone assumes is a blank slate can carry the highest-scoring habitat on the plot. Finding that out after the layout is fixed is an expensive way to learn it.
Lighting design for bats: guidance, lux levels and drawings
Artificial light is an ecological impact in its own right. Designing it out is cheaper at layout stage than arguing about it after the ecologist has reviewed your drawings.
When a planning condition requires an ecological clerk of works
An ecological clerk of works condition puts a named ecologist on site during clearance and construction. Here is what the role covers, who is competent to hold it, and what it costs.
Invasive species on site and the law developers meet
Invasive plants on a development site raise criminal, waste and civil liability questions at once. This covers Schedule 9, soil classification, the treatment routes and how to programme them against the build.
Recreational disturbance zones and SANG contributions
Recreational disturbance mitigation is a fixed cost per dwelling near many protected sites. This covers the distance bands, the greenspace standards, the access management tariff and how both are secured.
Nutrient neutrality: what an applicant actually supplies
The legal duty sits with the council, but the applicant does the arithmetic. This sets out the nutrient budget inputs, the mitigation routes, and the evidence an authority needs before it can grant permission.
Hedgerows: the 1997 Regulations and biodiversity units
Two regimes govern hedgerow removal and they run on different clocks. This explains the removal notice procedure, the important hedgerow criteria and how hedgerow units behave in the statutory biodiversity metric.
Reptile translocation: receptor sites and capture effort
Widespread reptiles are not licensed, so a translocation stands or falls on the method statement. The receptor site is the part that gets least attention and causes most failures.
Hazel dormice: survey effort and nest tube method
A dormouse survey is the longest terrestrial mammal survey in the UK evidence base. The effort index cannot be compressed, so it sets the programme for any scheme touching hedgerow or woodland edge.
Water voles: survey, displacement and licensing
Water voles are fully protected but are not a European protected species, which changes the licensing picture completely. Here is how survey, displacement and translocation actually work on a riparian site.
Nesting birds and the vegetation clearance window
Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act protects the nest, not the calendar. Here is how to programme clearance, check properly and record what you did.
Barn owls in a barn conversion: survey and mitigation
A resident barn owl changes a conversion scheme. Here is the Schedule 1 protection, how occupation is evidenced and the design detail that keeps the birds in the building.
Badger setts, licensing and the closed season
A badger sett on site does not stop a scheme, but it does control when you can clear the ground. Here is the licensing regime, the closed season and the working distances.
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