As you know, all British bats and their roosts are protected by law. It is an offence to harm, disturb or kill bats. It is also an offence to destroy or damage the places that bats use for shelter (their roosts) whether or not bats are present at the time.
It is the duty of anyone working in an area where bats are likely to be present to ensure that they are aware of what to look for and what actions to take if bats are found. In other words, you cannot say you didn’t know bats were there because you should expect them to be.
Precautionary Recommendations
- Before work begins on the area to be coppiced, all those working on site should read the attached leaflet “Bats and Trees” produced by the Bat Conservation Trust, in order to make them selves aware of what to look out for.
- Check all trees to be felled or coppiced, looking for any holes, cracks, splits, hollow branches or small cavities. Cavities entrances can be as small as 10mm wide and some cavities are so small that only a single bat fits in.
- Use a bright torch to illuminate any cavities to look for bats that may be present.
- Any branches with obvious holes or cavities that are too high to see into from the ground should be soft felled. The branch should then be laid gently on the ground and left undisturbed for 24 hours or at least overnight.
- If bats or any evidence of bats is found during any operation, ALL WORK MUST CEASE immediately and a bat expert contacted for further advice.
Please feel free to contact Gail Armstrong (contact details below) at any time for further advice. You can also contact Will Walton on the email address above ([email protected]) or mobile number 07739 984307.
Gail Armstrong, the Bat Lady
Tel: 01524 70316
Mobile: 07917021073