Badgers Move Back In (Video)

Badger mitigation strategy

Following the discovery of a large badger sett at a redevelopment site in south Manchester, ERAP Ltd (Consultant Ecologists) provided practical guidance to ensure the welfare of badger was protected throughout the earthworks and all relevant wildlife legislation and planning requirements were complied with.

In late summer 2015, we obtained a Natural England licence to temporarily exclude the badger setts which would be affected by the earthworks, keeping open those which remained a safe distance from the proposals and associated works.  The licensed works comprised the use of one-way gates, which is a standard exclusion technique.

This facilitated the earthworks and demolition to enable the new build.  The temporarily excluded entrances were then uncovered in February 2016.

Monitoring surveys in spring 2016 have found the re-opened badger setts are back in active use.  Typical signs of badger activity were present, including compacted earth and badger tracks, discarded bedding, and hairs found in the sett entrances.

This is great news and demonstrates that a carefully planned and successfully implemented mitigation strategy can ensure the protection of the welfare of badger whilst facilitating a development.

Here’s a couple of short videos of badger activity which was recorded by one of our camera traps.