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Wildlife Survey Section

Leicestershire County Council – Wildlife Survey Section is a small section based within Environment and Transport Department. This Section specialises in wildlife surveys of highways and highway structures, especially protected species. In addition, experience has been gained in street and structural lighting projects and the impact this may have on species associated with sites.
Protected species licences are held which cover survey work for bats, whiteclawed crayfish, great crested newts and barn owls. Otter, water vole, reptiles and nesting birds can also be covered during survey work.

Surveys and services include

  • Phase I Habitat Surveys* (extended to include protected species recommendations)
  • Ecological Clerk of Works – It may at times be necessary to have a resident ecologist/specific licence holder on site during licensable operations (tree and hedge removal, ditch digging, fence erection, etc..)
  • Environmental Impact and Ecological Impact Assessments (including ecological risk assessments which are overlooked on smaller lower impact schemes)
  • Habitat Creation – Mammal/reptile & amphibian fencing design and project control, mammal/reptile & amphibian crossing design (otter ledges, badger crossings and newt habitat connection), hibernacula design and project control (mammal/reptile & amphibian), pond design
  • Protected Species Surveys – Presence/absence surveys for bats, badgers, barn owls, great crested newts, native and non-native crayfish, water voles, otter
  • Lighting Design and Modification – Lighting schemes may affect foraging and commuting routes of nocturnal species (bats and otters) and therefore planning permission may be rejected without consideration to protected species
  • Nesting Bird Surveys – Surveys could include coordinates for nest locations when required
  • Species Monitoring – Most Natural England licensed work will require monitoring after completion of work, however, positive feedback on smaller ecological projects may also assist with future planning permission on similar projects.
  • Natural England Licence Applications – For bats, badgers, barn owls, great crested newts, white-clawed crayfish, water voles, otter

Further information

Work is undertaken by licensed, skilled, enthusiastic and friendly personnel using the most up-to-date equipment (AnaBat and Pettersson bat detectors, infrared illuminated video capture equipment, endoscopes and water monitoring equipment). Bat survey data will be supplied with date, time and location stamped within a spreadsheet and can be formatted for insertion into most GIS software packages. Photographs and video files are date and time stamped and can be supplied on disc.
Topographical surveys* can be offered on request with all wildlife survey results plotted within the drawing to indicate tree, sett, den, holt or burrow locations. These can be supplied with local or national coordinate systems.
*Full topographical surveys including three dimensional scans of structures are also available from colleagues in the Survey Section, details of which are available on request.
For more information, or an informal discussion please contact us using the details in the 'Further Information' box on the left hand side.
Early ecological surveys and habitat creation Ecological surveys prior to the scheme design phase may find evidence of protected species - now would be the time to design and set aside land for species mitigation and habitat creation. Time well spent at this early stage may reduce the impact that protected species potentially have on work programmes, so saving both time and costs incurred due to delays. Female Great Crested Newt
Mammal crossings, exclusion fences and green corridors Early design and placement of wildlife crossings, exclusion fences and green corridors should be incorporated into proposed civil engineering design and hard landscaping; symbiotic design for projects reduces costs and removes costly repairs and future individual maintenance costs for ecological mitigation schemes. Retro installed otter ledge
Purpose designed mitigation and habitat improvements Loss of habitat and disturbance has the greatest impact on loss of biodiversity.  Every scheme should be designed to achieve no loss of species diversity and as a goal even an increase of requirements needed for a rise in local species populations. Freestanding bat house
Page Last Updated: 2 July 2010