The long-awaiting Natural England consultation document on proposed revisions to the European Protected Species (EPS) licensing system has just been published.
Of particular interest is proposed licensing policy No 1, which would relax the requirement to exclude EPS – essentially great crested newts (GCNs) from development sites. This is a policy to be much supported, because it would mean an end to expensive and largely ineffective fencing costs for developers on sites with at best a peripheral value to the species. Some background: In 2000, JFA inherited a license – produced by another consultant, and one we would have never promoted. This license required exclusion of great crested newts from a development site. A complex arrangement of semi-permanent peripheral fencing and internal drift fencing was required. The license required 60 days of trapping effort. A six figure sum and 60 days later, precisely 6 great crested newts were trapped and re-located. I was, to say the least, horrified at the waste, and vowed I would never suggest such a mitigation to any client; I have kept that vow. What jumps out at me is the terrible mis-allocation of funds. The manpower and fencing costs would have funded substantial habitat improvements of real benefit to the species, but was instead spent on fencing, which was later discarded, contractors to put in the fencing, and manpower on field-workers who would have found far more interesting work than the daily inspection of (empty) pit-traps. JFA acknowledge that there are scenarios where a full capture and exclusion programme is necessary: one we conducted in around 2007 captured over 7000 GCNs, but importantly, included a significant habitat creation programme which did in fact benefit the local population. I have always been vocal about the UK regulatory bodies mis-interpretation of the Habitats Directive. The Directive is about population protection, but as promulgated into UK law, has resulted in the protection of individuals of a given species from harm. This duplicates the protection afforded to most species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act. The focus on individual harm has come, it seems to me, at the expense of conservation at the population level, which is still poorly addressed by the Agencies. It has taken now in excess of 16 years for the Agencies to finally concede that they might have got it wrong. It is now equally important that developers ensure that their consultant ecologists assess any potential harm correctly, to ensure that time and funds are not wasted in unneeded site mitigation. The full consultation document can be viewed here.
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For all you planners and project managers out there, a new on-line planning tool for non – ecologists is in development, this tool takes the form of an interactive ‘trigger’ list. This will allow you to see the species that may be impacted and therefore indicates the species surveys that may be required for a planning application. Using this in conjunction with a survey planner will improve project planning to ensure surveys are considered early enough to reduce the potential for later delays to the application or build program.
The Interactive Trigger list is being put together by the Partnership for Biodiversity in Planning, a partnership of 18 organisations representing the planning and conservation sectors. The project is in the 2nd year of a four year development program and will require testing and consultation with practitioners before its release. So even if this is found to be a successful tool it may take some time to feed into the planning system. The aim is to develop a web-based planning tool that asks a series of questions about the development proposal, enabling a quick judgment to be made about the likelihood of affecting protected and priority species. It may also produce a list of species that need further investigation and best practice guidance on methodology. This will be a great project planning aid, and if used in conjunction with a knowledgeable ecologist does have the potential to prevent costly delays through early planning for ecology surveys. We will let you know when we know more about the release date. In the meantime if you are planning a project and want to understand the ecology survey requirements, let us know at enquiries@jfa.co.uk and one of our team will help guide you. |
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