Tree Survey & Report Specialist

Ecological Surveys

Bats

All species of British bat and their roosts are protected under British law by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended), which is extended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. Bats are classified as European Protected Species under the Conservation (Natural Habitats, etc.) Regulations 1994.

A bat roost is interpreted as “any structure or place which any wild bat...uses for shelter or protection”. As bats tend to re-use the same roosts, moving around seasonally, a roost is legally protected whether or not bats are present at the time.

Any development or tree work that could impact on bats requires survey work to be carried out and an impact assessment conducted.

(The 2007 Habitats Regulations amendments strengthened the Regulations by removing the Agriculture and Animal Health Act defences, the dwelling house defence, the 'incidental result of an otherwise lawful operation' defence, and the defence that enabled certain actions to take place to prevent serious damage. These defences were removed to bring the Habitats Regulations more into line with the EU Habitats Directive. It also made non-compliance with a derogation licence a criminal offence.)

Some survey work can be carried out without a licence such as dawn, dusk and activity surveys. However, any work involving disturbance to bats requires the surveyor to carry a licence issued by Natural England, the Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage or the Environment and Heritage Service in Northern Ireland.

Bat surveys begin with a pre site assessment to determine the most effective and practical method of observation and location.

A field survey normally follows with both dawn and dusk observations. We inspect trees from the ground and from a rope and harness or mobile work platform. The methodology will include assessing areas where droppings might lie undisturbed, visual scanning for potential access points into trees, the use of fibre optic endoscopes and flight surveillance through scanning with bat ultrasound detectors, a detailed report will then be written with suitable conclusions and reccmendations where appropriate.

Structural Timber Report

Timber Reports deal with fungal decay and wood boring insects, both of which can cause serious damage to both the structural timber and non-structural timber in buildings.

top