Knotweed Services (UK) Ltd were instructed to carry out a Japanese Knotweed survey in the Wolverhampton area. During the survey our Operations Director noticed potential signs of badger activity.
We made contact with the client and advised a badger survey would need to be carried out by a professional ecologist.
Due to planning the badgers were required to be relocated on site under licence from Natural England.
Badgers and their setts (tunnels and chambers where they live) are protected by law.
You may be able to get a licence from Natural England if you can’t avoid disturbing badgers in their sett or damaging their sett.
What you must not do
You could be sent to prison for up to 6 months and get an unlimited fine if you’re found guilty of any of these offences:
- intentionally capture, kill or injure a badger
- damage, destroy or block access to their setts
- disturb badgers in setts
- treat a badger cruelly
- deliberately send or intentionally allow a dog into a sett
- bait or dig for badgers
You’re breaking the law and could get an unlimited fine if you:
- have or sell a badger, or offer a live badger for sale
- have or possess a dead badger or parts of a badger (if you got it illegally)
- mark or attach a marking device to a badger
Activities that can harm badgers
Activities that can affect badgers include:
- destroying or damaging their setts
- noise, additional lighting or vibration
- pile driving
- quarry blasting
- lighting fires
- using chemicals
- excavation
- ploughing and harvesting crops
- tree felling and timber extraction
- construction or repair of flood defences or watercourses
When you’ll need a licence
In most cases you should be able to avoid disturbing badgers and damaging or blocking access to their sett.
If you can’t avoid this, you can apply for a licence to interfere with a sett from Natural England. You’ll need to show you’ve tried everything else possible to avoid affecting badgers.
You’ll need expert help with your licence application if it’s for a development project. Find out what type of survey and mitigation methods will be needed to support a planning application.
