A Busy Time for Ecologists
The season for ecologists if now getting underway, with bats, birds, reptiles and amphibians out and about and there to be surveyed. However there has been plenty to do over the last few weeks, including a lot of new information and requirements to digest. Last month saw the release of the new IEEM technical guidance on preliminary ecological assessment, the release of the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), results of the consultation on the Habitats Regulations and right at the end of the month (just in time) the new Bat Surveys Good Practice Guidelines. It’s a lot to take in. The government has its own agenda with the NPPF and Habitats Directive, but when it comes to new guidance from IEEM and BCT I know, from being involved myself, that they are the work of passionate and committed expert volunteers who are keen to move things forward for the whole profession. Our expertise and the technology and techniques we have available are changing rapidly, so it’s increasingly important that the work we actually do keeps up with what we can now do. However much survey I do, I always enjoy learning something new each time.
Richard Graves