Mitigation and Compensation

Whenever a development impacts on a protected species it is the function of the Wildlife Consultant to assess the level of impact and to determine a mitigation and compensation package that will minimise that impact. It is necessary to find a compromise that maintains the population of the protected species whilst permitting the proposed development to proceed.

Where there is an impact, it is normally necessary to obtain a licence. These licences permit otherwise unlawful activities and can only be granted for certain purposes and depend to a large extent on the species involved.

An essential part of any licence application is to provide a mitigation and compensation package designed to outline how the impact on the species concerned will be kept to a minimum.

Mitigation involves changing the scheme or project or altering the timing of the works to reduce or remove the impacts on the species concerned.

Compensation involves the creation of replacement habitat to replace that which is to be lost.

Before a mitigation and compensation package can be designed, it is essential that all considerations are based upon sound surveys that fully evaluate the current situation. The surveys must determine, initially, the presence or absence of protected species but must then go on to determine population sizes, breeding places, foraging patterns, etc, to fully determine and understand the pattern of activity across the site.

Once the patterns of activity have been determined, it is possible to assess the potential impact on the species and then to proceed with the preparation of the mitigation and compensation package.

Mitigation must be considered first. From the point of view of the protected species, the first priority is to avoid the impact altogether. From a developers point of view, the first priority is to maximise the utilisation of available land for whatever chosen objective. The Wildlife Consultant is there to assist in determining a package that is a compromise. The final arbiter will be the Licencing Authority. They will decide whether there is sufficient mitigation in the package to allow the ultimate survival of the protected species.

There is a wealth of options that can be considered under mitigation. Setting aside a proportion of the development as a wildlife habitat, retention of ponds, provision of wildlife corridors are all typical examples.

Timing is also an important consideration. Clearly with all species, disturbance during the breeding season should be avoided. Species such as great crested newts and bats should not be disturbed during hibernation.

Mitigation involves providing a replacement to something that is lost to at least the equivalent of what was there before. Examples include providing an artificial badger sett, creating new amphibian ponds, creating new bat roost sites.

Mitigation and compensation is too complicated to cover all examples for all species in one short document as this. From the point of view of the developer, it is important to secure the services of a fully competent and experienced Wildlife Consultant with a proven track record.

Our consultancy has the experience of designing mitigation and compensation schemes that will achieve what is necessary and effective.