Great Crested Newt Survey

Great Crested Newt Survey and Licensing

We provide great crested newt habitat assessment, eDNA and conventional pond surveys, impact assessment and advice on traditional and district-level licensing.

Great crested newts receive strict legal protection, together with the places they use for breeding and shelter.

Although they breed in ponds, great crested newts spend much of the year on land and can use grassland, scrub, woodland, hedgerows, rubble, log piles and other terrestrial habitats.

A project may require surveys of ponds within 500 metres. The appropriate approach depends on:

• The nature and scale of the works
• Distance from suitable ponds
• Habitat connectivity
• Roads, rivers and other barriers
• Existing records
• The quality of terrestrial habitat
• The licensing route being considered

Initial assessment

We can undertake:

• Habitat Suitability Index assessment
• Pond and waterbody searches
• Terrestrial-habitat assessment
• Review of connectivity and barriers
• Desk study
• Risk assessment of likely project effects

Pond surveys

Where detailed survey is required, methods may include:

• Environmental DNA sampling
• Torch survey
• Bottle trapping
• Egg searching
• Artificial refuges
• Netting where appropriate

Environmental DNA can establish presence or likely absence within the prescribed survey period but does not provide a population-size class.

Where population information is needed to inform conventional mitigation licensing, a series of survey visits using suitable methods may be required.

District Level Licensing

District Level Licensing provides an alternative to traditional project-specific mitigation licensing in participating areas of England.

It uses strategic habitat delivery to compensate for predicted effects on great crested newts. Depending on the scheme and project, it may reduce or remove the need for conventional population surveys and onsite trapping and translocation.

We can advise whether District Level Licensing is available and suitable, provide ecological information for the application and compare it with the conventional licensing route.

Mitigation

Mitigation may include:

• Retention of ponds and terrestrial habitat
• Habitat buffers and connectivity
• Timing and sensitive working methods
• Amphibian fencing and trapping
• Pond creation or restoration
• Terrestrial refuge creation
• Long-term management and monitoring