Protected Species Surveys > Great Crested Newts
Great crested newts are amphibians listed as European Protected Species and as such are protected under the Habitats Regulations (1994) (as amended) and the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) (as amended).
Taken together these two pieces of legislation make it illegal to:
- Capture, injure or kill a great crested newt
- Disturb a great crested newt whilst in a place of shelter or rest
- Damage or destroy a great crested newt's breeding site or resting place.
No offence is committed if work is done under and in accordance with an appropriate licence.
Greenwillows Associates personnel hold the necessary survey licences to permit disturbance where this is necessary to establish presence or absence of great crested newts.
Habitats Regulations licences sometimes called European Protected Species Licences (EPSL's) permit work that would otherwise constitute an offence by disturbing great crested newts and/or damaging their breeding sites and resting places such as clearing vegetation, rubble heaps, wood piles, and other features under which amphibians can shelter or infilling of ponds. Greenwillows Associates have successfully obtained such licences for clients and have the expertise and experience to guide and advise our clients' architects and surveyors on the level of information required from them in order to achieve a favourable outcome.
We also have the expertise to design and implement habitat creation schemes and translocation programms that are often required under the EPSL system.
Our Checklist of Services which complies with national best practice standards set out by Natural England includes:
- Desk study and data searches for historical biological records pertinent to the target site
- Field surveys to include Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) assessments for all relevant water bodies, pond-netting, searching for eggs on water-plants and terrestrial habitat assessments
- Night surveys to include torchlight searches and funnel trapping
- Terrestrial trapping to ascertain usage of habitat close to ponds
- Reports to support planning applications
- Preparation of applications to obtain European Protected Species Licences for mitigation schemes including translocation where necessary
- Design and creation of new ponds and hibernacula for translocation receptor habitats
- Installation of temporary amphibian fencing and pitfall traps
- Translocation of animals under licence
- Post construction monitoring of newt populations to meet planning and licence agreements