Bat Mitigation Guidelines for Ireland Irish Wildlife Manuals No. 25 Bat Mitigation Guidelines for Ireland Conor Kelleher and Ferdia Marnell Citation: Kelleher, C. & Marnell, F. (2006) Bat Mitigation Guidelines for Ireland. Irish Wildlife Manuals , No. 25. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland. Cover photo : Brown long-eared bat (© Austin Hopkirk) Irish Wildlife Manuals Series Editor: F. Marnell © National Parks and Wildlife Service 2006 ISSN 1393 - 6670 Key messages for developers • Bats and their roosts are protected by Irish and EU law because all species have declined and some are threatened or endangered. • There are 10 known species of bats in Ireland, each with its own lifestyle and habitat requirements. They use a wide variety of roosts, including buildings of all sorts, trees and underground places. • Many bat roosts are used only seasonally as bats have different roosting requirements at different times of the year. During the summer, females of all species gather in colonies to give birth and rear their young; these maternity roosts are often in places warmed by the sun. During the winter bats hibernate, often in places that are sheltered from extremes of temperature. • When planning a development it is advisable to check for the presence of bats as early as possible so that any planning and licensing issues can be addressed before resources are committed. Bat surveys require specialist knowledge and equipment. • Planning authorities are required to take account of the presence of protected species, including bats, when considering applications for planning permission and may refuse applications on the grounds of adverse effects on these species or if an assessment of the impact of the development on protected species is inadequate. Planning conditions or agreements may be used to ensure the conservation status of protected species is maintained. • A grant of planning permission does not constitute a licence or permit to disturb bats or interfere with their breeding or resting places. • Application may be made to the National Parks and Wildlife Service for a derogation licence to permit actions affecting bats or their roosts that would normally be prohibited by law. The applicant must demonstrate that there is no satisfactory alternative and that the action will not adversely affect the favourable conservation status of the bats. Each case is considered on its particular circumstances, and an application may be refused. • Mitigation to reduce or compensate for any impact of development is generally a condition of the licence and must be proportionate to the impact. Mitigation measures will be proportionate to the impact and may require particular timing of operations, protection of existing roosts or the creation of new roosts to replace ones being lost. In some cases, a considerable period of time may be required to carry out this work. Monitoring of the effect of the mitigation is usually required. • The protected species legislation applies independently of planning permission, so licences are likely to be necessary for operations that affect bats but do not require planning permission. • The National Parks and Wildlife Service strongly advises developers to seek the services of a professional ecological consultant with appropriate experience in assessing bat populations when contemplating a development proposal that would affect bats or their roosts. • This document gives generic technical advice on assessing impacts and developing mitigation plans. It does not give a comprehensive explanation of the legislation and developers may wish to seek their own legal advice. 4 Bat Mitigation Guidelines for Ireland Figure 1 Main steps involved in ensuring that bat issues are properly considered in developments requiring planning permission DEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL USE EXISTING INFORMATION TO ASSESS PROBABILITY OF BATS BEING PRESENT. SEE 4. & 5 PRESENT OR ABSENT OR HIGHLY LIKELY TO BE UNLIKELY TO BE PRESENT PRESENT COMMISSION DESK/FIELD CONTINUE WITH DEVELOPMENT; CONSULT SURVEY BY ECOLOGICAL NO EVIDENCE OF NPWS IF BATS DISCOVERED DURING CONSULTANT. SEE 5. BATS DESPITE WORKS. SEE 6.4 ADEQUATE EVIDENCE SURVEY OF USE BY BATS ASSESS IMPACTS, PLAN MITIGATION (SEE 6, 7 & 8.) AND ADDRESS THE THREE KEY LICENCE CRITERIA: NPWS CONSERVATION - PURPOSE RANGERS PROVIDE GENERIC - ALTERNATIVES ADVICE ON SURVEYS, - EFFECT ON FAVOURABLE IMPACTS AND MITIGATION CONSERVATION STATUS. REJECT THE PROPOSAL UNLESS ALL CRITERIA ARE NPWS PROVIDES SITE- MET. SEE 2.2 FOR DETAILS SPECIFIC ADVICE TO LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY LICENCE GRANTED SUBMIT PLANNING SUBMIT LICENCE DEVELOPMENT APPLICATION (INCLUDING APPLICATION TO PROCEEDS, WITH MITIGATION PLAN, SEE 10.) TO NPWS MITIGATION LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY PLANNING PLANNING PERMISSION NPWS MINDED PERMISSION GRANTED TO REFUSE REFUSED REVISE & REVISE & RESUBMIT, RESUBMIT OR APPEAL, OR ABANDON ABANDON Bat mitigation guidelines for Ireland 5 Contents 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 Background ................................................................................................................ 9 1.2 Conservation status of bats......................................................................................... 9 1.3 Legal status and its implications for developers ........................................................ 9 1.4 Development, mitigation and compensation............................................................ 10 1.5 Responsibility for achieving successful outcomes................................................... 10 2 Legislation and licensing................................................................................................ 12 2.1 Legislation................................................................................................................ 12 2.2 Derogation licences. ................................................................................................. 13 2.2.1 When is a licence required? ............................................................................. 14 2.2.2 Actions affecting Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) ............................... 15 2.3 Interpretation and enforcement ................................................................................ 16 3 Roles and responsibilities............................................................................................... 17 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 17 3.2 National Parks and Wildlife Service ........................................................................ 17 3.3 Developers and ecological consultants .................................................................... 17 3.4 Local Planning Authorities....................................................................................... 18 3.5 Other organisations .................................................................................................. 18 4 An introduction to bats.................................................................................................. 20 4.1 General ..................................................................................................................... 20 4.2 Roost requirements................................................................................................... 24 4.3 Habitat associations.................................................................................................. 26 5 Survey objectives, methods and standards .................................................................. 27 5.1 The importance of a good survey............................................................................. 27 5.2 Some general points on surveys ............................................................................... 27 5.3 Setting survey objectives.......................................................................................... 29 5.4 Survey area............................................................................................................... 29 5.5 Desk study................................................................................................................ 30 5.6 Field survey methods ............................................................................................... 30 5.6.1 Inspection of buildings or other structures....................................................... 30 5.6.2 Inspection of trees ............................................................................................ 32 5.6.3 Use of bat detectors .......................................................................................... 32 5.6.4 Netting and harp-trapping ................................................................................ 34 5.6.5 Radio-tracking.................................................................................................. 34 5.6.6 Timing of surveys............................................................................................. 35 5.7 Survey standards ...................................................................................................... 36 5.7.1 Presence/absence surveys................................................................................. 36 5.7.2 Extent and pattern of usage .............................................................................