Badger Surveys

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Badger by Andrew Parkinson/ 2020 Vision
© Andrew Parkinson/2020VISION

Badger

Badger Meles meles are legally protected under the Protection of Badger Act passed in 1992, which prevents the cruel treatment of badgers and destruction of setts.

All badgers are therefore protected, making it an offence to:  

  • Wilfully kill, injure or take a badger
  • Cruelly ill-treat or sell a badger
  • Dig for a badger (including using dogs)
  • Damage, destroy or obstruct access to enter a sett
  • Disturb a badger when it is occupying a sett

Badger can be affected by works including:

  • Developments that remove or impact badger setts - badger setts can be found in any habitat including woodland, scrub, urban environments and their setts can range in size depending on the use.

The best time of year to conduct surveys can be found in our ecology calendar.

If your Preliminary Ecological Appraisal has highlighted concerns about badgers within your site - you may need the surveys listed down below:

Adonis Blue will work with you to carry out the necessary surveys for your site.

Badger Surveys

Here are the main types of badger surveys used in development contexts:

Walkover Survey

  • Purpose: Search for evidence of badgers on site
  • Method: A walkover survey to check the site for badger setts and signs of badgers including latrines, paths, feeding signs and hairs
  • Timings: Any time of the year, but best conducted between Feb-April or September-November when setts are not obscured by vegetation
  • Number of surveys: 1 visit, this is normally done with the Preliminary Ecological Appraisal

Sett monitoring

  • Purpose: To determine what species are using the sett, if badgers are present it will enable the sett to be classified (main, annex, subsidiary or outlier)
  • Method: Camera traps are set up near the sett on a stick to record badgers entering and leaving the sett
  • Timings: Any time of the year, but best conducted between Feb-April or September-November when setts are not obscured by vegetation
  • Number of surveys: Camera traps will be set up for 3-4 weeks continuously and checked throughout

Obtain a protected species licence

To obtain a badger licence for development, you need to apply for a mitigation licence from the relevant statutory nature conservation body (Natural England).

This will allow work that is otherwise illegal, but will only permit work taking place between July-November, the least sensitive time of year for badgers.

Our team can help you secure a badger licence and ensure all necessary mitigation is achieved, such as sett closures and in some cases implication of an artificial sett and monitoring.