Dormice and your development
If your project is likely to affect woodland, hedgerow, or scrub and your extended phase 1 habitats survey / preliminary ecological appraisal identifies the habitat as having potential to support hazel dormice, of if local distribution and records suggest dormice may be present then surveys may be required to determine presence / absence and identify how the site is used.
Dormouse surveys can take several forms depending on the size of the project and scale of potential impacts. Creating gaps in hedgerows and clearance of small areas of scrub may only require a visual search for nests and characteristically nibbled hazel nuts between September and November, while larger scale projects will usually require the use of nest tubes and footprint tunnels between March and October.
If dormice are found to be present on site we will aim to predict potential densities and assess the importance of the site to local and national populations / distribution, and work with you to develop a suitable avoidance, mitigation, and compensation strategy to minimise the impacts and facilitate a dormouse friendly development.
All of our dormouse surveys are conducted by fully licenced ecologists with the knowledge, skills, and experience required.
Contact us today to discuss your dormouse survey needs
We can help with all of your dormouse survey requirements get in touch for your free quotation
- Habitat scoping surveys.
- Presence / likely absence surveys: manual searches and nut hunts.
- Presence / likely absence sureys: nest tubes, nest boxes, and footprint tunnels.
- Desk studies and biological record searches.
- Population estimates.
- Avoidance, mitigation & compensation strategies.
- Reasonable Avoidance Measures Method Statements (RAMMS).
- European Protected Species Mitigation Licence applications.
- Habitat creation and improvement.
- Habitat management.
- Translocation.
- Ecological Clerk of Works (ECoW).
- Population monitoring.
