Back in 2007, the Bat Conservation Trust published the first edition of ‘Bat Surveys: Good Practice Guidelines’, with the aim to provide some clarity on the different types of survey and survey effort needed to provide appropriate information for ecological assessments. Since 2007, new developments in equipment, methods, and legislation have meant that revision of the bat survey guidelines is needed.

The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) of the US published its report last month from the marine mammal and sound workshop held in July 2010. It's online here http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/permits/mammals_sound_workshop.htm

I had thought that 2011 would be a year of consolidation however it turned out to be one of continued expansion and forward planning. Not only did our client base increase along with turnover but we also expanded the in-house team with Carlos Abrahams joining us as Technical Director

In his Autumn Statement last week, the Chancellor George Osborne set out his views on how to improve the economy and tackle the debt crisis. Amongst other matters, he included a few comments in relation to UK environmental legislation that have not gone down well with conservation bodies such as the RSPB and Wildlife Trusts.

This newsflash has just been received from Natural England announcing the withdrawal of its reptile mitigation guidelines.

Consultants and interested parties are being encouraged to provide contributions to the re-drafting process, but the contact details do not appear to be on the NE web site but can be found on the IEEM web site. Please feel free to add a comment below.

The European Commission has published new guidance on Wind Energy developments and Natura 2000.

Natural England has launched new guidelines on survey and site mitigation for reptiles, producing a single set of standards for good practice in reptile ecology work. It is aimed at developers, local authorities and consultants.

All species of reptile are now on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) priority list, so their conservation has to be taken into account during the planning process, whenever a site supports populations of grass snake, slow worm, common lizard or other reptiles.

Our consultant ecologist Kelly Clark writes;

Natural England has released new mitigation guidelines for reptiles. The pdf is available for download here TIN102.

Baker Consultants is hosting a seminar at DLA Piper Manchester on Wednesday 28th September.

The seminar addresses ecological constraints to development and how to overcome the legal hurdles. If you are a planner, planning consultant, developer or ecologist, whether for a commercial organisation or local authority, you are welcome to attend.

I have recently returned from the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) conference held in London which was billed "Hydropower in England and Wales: Addressing the Key Ecological Issues".