Great crested newt

Thomson Ecology are highly experienced in the great crested newt surveys and great crested newt mitigation. If you suspect that you may have great crested newts on your site it is important that you involve ecologists as early as possible in order to avoid costly delays to your project.

Ecology and Conservation status

Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) spend the majority of their lives on land, but migrate to water in the spring in order to breed. They usually lay their eggs from mid March to mid May. The larvae remain in the ponds until metamorphosis is complete– a period of 2-3 months. They then spend 2-4 years on land until they reach sexual maturity and return to the water to breed.
Great crested newt numbers have declined throughout Europe due to habitat loss and pollution, but they remain widely distributed in Great Britain.

Protection and Legislation

Great crested newts and their habitats are fully protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Habitats Regulations. Both the great crested newts’ aquatic habitat (typically large ponds) and terrestrial habitat are protected from damage and destruction.
They are a priority species under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and have been adopted as a Species of Principal Importance in England under section 41 of the NERC Act 2006, Wales under section 42 and in Scotland under the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act.

Licences and Surveys

A protected species licence is required whenever disturbance of great crested newts or damage to their habitats is likely to occur.
In practice, this means that surveys can only be carried out by a licensed ecological consultant. If great crested newt mitigation is required, a second licence application will be needed, accompanied by a detailed method statement setting out the activity to be carried out under the licence. The licence will only be granted for reasons of overriding public interest and it must be shown that the favourable conservation status of the great crested newt is maintained and that there is no satisfactory alternative to the proposed development.

Mitigation

Great crested newt mitigation can be lengthy and costly. The time taken to obtain a licence and then trapping the newts during their active period, is likely to mean a wait of several months to possibly more than a year before mitigation is completed.
Ideally, key features within the development site that provide a habitat for the great crested newt should be retained eg, ponds, woodland, scrub, coarse grassland and hedgerows. This will not only provide them with a habitat following the development but will also reduce the number that need to be captured and should therefore reduce the time taken to remove them from the development area.
In terrestrial habitats, newts are caught using a system of amphibian fencing and pitfall traps. Captured great crested newts need to be accommodated in a suitable receptor site– ideally on-site but alternatively as close to the development site as possible.