Protected species

Badgers

Badgers are a protected species and have their own Act (The Protection of Badgers Act 1992), which makes it an offence to harm a badger or interfere with its sett. Occasionally badgers can cause problems by digging up lawns. This tends to be a seasonal problem associated with badgers digging up larvae or earthworms to eat. For some people the pleasure of seeing a visiting badger outweighs this problem. However, advice is available for measures to resolve such problems. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provide an advice leaflet entitled Badger problems: advice to householders.

The National Federation of Badger Groups (NFBG) provide a wealth of useful information including a leaflet entitled Badgers in your garden.

For developers there are strict regulations as to what sort of activity can take place within a particular distance of a sett. A licence may be required in some instances. English Nature provide a helpful leaflet entitled Badgers and development and this clearly explains issues for the developer.

Bats

There are seventeen species of bat found in the UK all of which enjoy legal protection, which makes it illegal to kill, injure or disturb bats and to damage, disturb or obstruct access to their roosts.

Bats are very clean animals and cause no damage to the buildings and trees in which they roost. Occasionally they have been known to fly into the room of someone’s home. This is generally in July and August when young bats are still refining their echo location skills. In this event it is best to leave open an outside window or door and close doors leading into the rest of the house. If left in peace the bat will normally return outside.

The Bat Conservation Trust provides a wealth of information about bats including guidance on bats entering buildings and what to do if an injured bat is found on the ground. Whilst a licence is normally required for handling bats it is permissible to do whatever is humane with the objective of rehabilitating a bat to the wild. There have been some exceedingly rare incidents of bats in Britain carrying a form of rabies virus so bats should only be handled whilst wearing suitable gloves. The Bat Conservation Trust gives more detailed information on this issue. Advice can also be obtained from the Trust for any bat related issue calling telephoning their bat helpline on 0845 1300228.

The English Nature Bat Mitigation Guidelines give some useful information for developers. Bats may be roosting in buildings or trees or using a site for foraging. It may be necessary to obtain a bat survey before conducting any work that could affect bats.

Birds

All wild birds are afforded protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which prohibits the intentional killing, injury or taking of any wild birds and the taking, damaging or destruction of any nest whilst it is being built or is in use.  It is advisable to avoid the bird nesting season (March till the end of July) when doing any work to trees that may affect nesting birds.

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