Over the last century bat populations have suffered serious declines and are currently under threat from factors such as the loss of feeding habitats and flight paths e.g. hedgerows, woodlands and ponds; loss of prey through the extensive use of pesticides having a detrimental effect on insect numbers and through building and developments destroying and damaging roost sites. To ensure the conservation of biodiversity it is recommended that developments adhere to regulations and that an appropriate ecological bat survey is conducted to assess the impact on bat populations.

A Southern Ecological Solutions (SES) have a wealth of experienced ecologists that have conducted bat surveys followed by successful licenced mitigation schemes that meet its clients ecological obligations and commercial needs in a cost effective and pragmatic way.

SES also has a specialist in house implementation team with expert ecological training allowing them to carry out works on sensitive sites. With experience in installing bat boxes, qualified tree climbing, sensitive tree felling and tree inspection through the use of a cherry picker.

UK Bat Habitat and Ecology

Bats are the only true flying mammal, with their main source of food in Britain being insects, which they catch whilst in flight using echolocation. They use linear features such as hedgerows, tree lines, ditches and canals to navigate and feed along woodland edges, marshes, slow rivers and pasture. There are 17 bat species in Britain, the smallest being the Pipistrelle Pipistrellus spp. bat which weighs as little as 5g (same as £1 coin!) and the largest the Greater mouse eared bat Myotis myotis [the mouse eared bat was declared extinct in the UK in 1990 although a female was found in 2001 and in 2002 a male was found hibernating in a tunnel] which can weigh up to 45g (which can still fit within the palm of your hand). Bats are also becoming more reliant on urban habitats, where they roost in buildings and forage in nearby wooded parks and gardens. Habitat choice can be species-specific and some bats will journey further out to seek the habitat they prefer. Bats are loyal to certain roosting sites, but use different roosts at various times of the year; during the summer months females will seek out warmer sites such as bridges, trees and buildings in order to raise their young and conversely during the winter months both sexes roost in cooler structures underground.

Legal Status and Protection of Bats in the UK

Over the last century bat populations have suffered serious declines and are currently under threat from factors such as the loss of feeding habitats and flight paths e.g. hedgerows, woodlands and ponds; loss of prey through the extensive use of pesticides having a detrimental effect on insect numbers and through building and developments destroying and damaging roost sites.

Bats are protected under section 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) and regulation 39 of the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007. Taken together it is illegal to:

The maximum fine per offence is £5000 and if more than one bat is involved, £5000 per bat (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Section 21). The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CROW) amendment contains a provision for a custodial sentence of up to 6 months instead of, or in addition to, a fine. Along with a lengthy development delay until appropriate mitigation has been agreed and completed.

The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERC)also lists bats as a species of principle importance under Section 41 and Section 40 requires every public body in the exercising of its functions to ‘have regard, so far as is consistent with the proper exercise of those functions, to the purpose of conserving biodiversity’ . In addition, local authority planning departments should also meet the requirements of the Planning Policy Statement 9 (PPS9); which requires planners not only to protect biodiversity, but where possible to enhance it.

Requirements of Bat Surveys

Any development that impacts upon bats requires survey work. Examples of development impacts include works on linear features such as woodland edges, hedgerows and canals nearby which bats may use for foraging. Felling old trees with crevices where bats can be found roosting.

Bats are subject to strict legislation however some bat surveys do not require a licence; an experienced SES ecologist may carry out a dawn, dusk and activity survey without a licence.

However due to this strict legislation any work that requires ‘disturbance’ requires an appropriate Natural England licence to be carried by the bat worker.

SES has ecologists that can provide the following essential bat surveys:

Bat Mitigation

After the completion of a bat survey an SES ecologist can assess the requirements for mitigation. An SES ecologist must hold a Natural England bat licence if a proposed development has any impact upon bats or their roosts and therefore a European Protected Species licence is required. Licence applications usually take Natural England around 30 days to process and adequate survey data therefore pre-planning is necessary to avoid any costly delays, which can run in to years without the proper planning.

SES ecologists have years of experience designing and implementing bat mitigation strategies in order to minimise the impact upon bat species and development respectively. Mitigation strategies vary but most successful examples are focussed around how the developer can minimise harm towards bats by timing construction to avoid sensitive times such as May to late August when bats are breeding or from November to late May during hibernation; as disturbance during this period can damage survival rates.

A constant in bat mitigation is the provision of bat roosting areas and/ or commuting and foraging grounds. This may range from the installation of bat boxes to the construction of a purpose built bat attic; commuting and foraging grounds can be satisfied with retention of specific vegetation and/or a replanting schemes.

If you would like to find out more about our Consultancy or any of the other service(s) that Southern Ecological Solutions provide, then please don't hesitate to Contact Us to discuss your requirements further . You can also call us direct on 01245 475565.