Bailieboro. Environmental Impact Statement Appendix

Transcription

1 Lakeland Dairies Co-operative Society Ltd. Bailieboro Environmental Impact Statement Appendix E BAT Survey Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 188

2 BAT ECO SERVICES Lakeland Dairies, Baillieborough, County Cavan. Bat Survey Dr Tina Aughney 2014 Report prepared for: Traynor Environmental & Lakeland Dairies, Baillieborough, Co. Cavan U L E X H O U S E, D R U M H E E L, L I S D U F F, V I R G I N I A, C O U N T Y C A V A N Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan info@batecoservices.com

3 SUMMARY Site: Development: Proposed work: Lakeland Dairies Baillieboro Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan New drier facility Various works see main section of report for details Land at Lakeland dairies, Baillieborough, Co. Cavan was surveyed by the Dr Tina Aughney, Bat Eco Services, in relation to potential bat roosts. Such surveying was completed due to the fact that bats are protected species under the Wildlife Act (1976) and Wildlife [Amendment] Act (2000). Across Europe, they are further protected under the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention 1982), which, in relation to bats, exists to conserve all species and their habitats. The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention 1979, enacted 1983) was instigated to protect migrant species across all European boundaries. The Irish government has ratified both these conventions. Also, the EC Directive on The Conservation of Natural habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (Habitats Directive 1992), seeks to protect rare species, including bats, and their habitats and requires that appropriate monitoring of populations be undertaken. All bat species are protected under Annex IV of the EU Habitats Directive, while the lesser horseshoe bat is listed under Annex II. Member states are required to designate Special Areas of Conservation for all species listed under Annex II in order to protect them. Desktop Study by: Dr Tina Aughney Therefore a bat survey was requested to determine the bat usage of this proposed development and in view of the fact all bat species are protected under Irish and EU legislation. 1.1 Site description Bat species recorded: Roosting: None Foraging: soprano pipistrelle, Leisler s bat, common pipistrelle, Daubenton s bat and brown long-eared bat. buildings. Therefore the corridor is relatively dark and provides a suitable commuting and foraging area for bats. Plate 1: Site A treeline adjacent to security building Site A: Treeline adjacent to Security Building & River N Species recorded: soprano pipistrelle, Leisler s bat, common pipistrelle, Daubenton s bat and brown long-eared bat Proposed works at the Bailieborough facility includes the following works that may have an impact on local bat populations: a) Removal of treeline adjacent to security building and river The treeline is a row of conifer trees located adjacent to the river with a second line of popular trees along the perimeter of the GAA pitch. This conifer treeline creates a treeline corridor for bats and protects the river from lighting located on factory Site B: River proposed to be realigned N Species recorded: soprano pipistrelle, Leisler s bat, common pipistrelle and Daubenton s bat Site C: Treelines adjacent to potential new warehouse N Species recorded: soprano pipistrelle, Leisler s bat, common pipistrelle, Daubenton s bat and brown long-eared bat 1. Introduction Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 190

4 b) Realignment of river to the rear factory The river flows along the perimeter of the factory buildings. As part of the proposed development, this river is to be realigned to its original flow path as shown on maps from This realignment will mean that the river will be a further 50-70m from the current factory boundary. Plate 2: Site B river along perimeter of factory boundary (section to be realigned). 2. Survey Methodology This report presents the results of a site visit by Dr Tina Aughney completed on 20 th and 21 st July 2014 during which a bat survey was completed. A daytime survey was undertaken to identify potential roosting sites and foraging habitats. Evidence of bats is in the form of actual bats (visible or audible), bat droppings, urine staining, grease marks (oily secretions from glands present on stonework) and claw marks. A Passive Monitoring System of bat detection was employed for these surveys where the bat detector is effectively used as a bat activity data logger. Three units of Wildlife Acoustics SongMeter SM2 Platform were deployed and located at three separate locations. Unit 1 is located in Site A; Unit 2 is located in Site B and Unit 3 is located adjacent to the alder woodland. Unit 1: Treeline adjacent to Security Building & River N c) Potential removal of treelines in car park to facilitate extension of warehousing Two conifer treelines section off the car park form the current warehouse. Future plans may require an extension of the warehouse which will require these treelines to be removed. Plate 3: Site C treelines adjacent to warehouse and car park. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 191

5 Unit 2: River proposed to be realigned N depicted on a graph showing the number of bat passes per species per hour. Each bat pass does not correlated to an individual bat but is representative of bat activity levels. Some species such as the pipistrelles will continuous fly around a habitat and therefore it is likely that a series of bat passes within a similar time frame is one individual bat. On the other hand, Leisler s bats tend to travel through an area quickly and therefore an individual sequence or bat pass is more likely to be indicative of individual bats. To support the Passive Monitoring Programme, dusk surveying was also completed on the each survey dates for details using a bat detector (Wildlife Acoutics EM3 unit and Pettersson D200 Heterodyne Bat Detector unit). Dusk surveys were completed during the hours of 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. and involved a general walkabout of the site. 2.1 Survey Constraints This survey was undertaken inside the preferred summer months of mid-april to mid-september. There are no survey constraints with regards to the current structure inspections. SP = soprano pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus Unit 3: River proposed to be realigned N CP = common pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus Leis = Leisler s bat Nyctalus leisleri Daub = Daubenton s bat Myotis daubentoni BLE = brown long-eared bat Plecotus auritus The use of these recording devices results in a far greater sampling effort over a shorter period of time. Bat detectors are employed as the ultrasonic calls produced by bats cannot be heard by human hearing. Bat surveying was completed using units Wildlife Acoustics SongMeter SM2 Platform Units. Real Time recording is a technique used to record bat echolocation calls and using SongScope software, the recorded calls are identified. It is these sonograms (2- d sound pictures) that are digitally stored on the SD card and downloaded for analysis. Each bat sequence (series of echolocation pulses starting with a search phase and ending with the catch phase) is noted as a bat pass. These results are Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 192

6 3. Bat Survey Results Unit 1: Treeline adjacent to Security Building & River N During the Dusk Survey, four species of bat was recorded: soprano pipistrelle, common pipistrelle, Daubenton s bat and Leisler s bat. The first bat was recorded at 22:25hrs. No bats were recorded roosting in the concrete building. Time Species Description 22:25 hrs Soprano pipistrelle Foraging along hedgerow between car park and alder woodland. Figure 1: Number of bat passes recorded at Unit 1 located in Site A treeline adjacent to security building and river :37 hrs Common pipistrelle Commuting down along river and treelines adjacent to security building. 22:48 hrs Common pipistrelle Foraging at corner of road to rear of GAA pitch 22:55 hrs Soprano pipistrelle Foraging along river over open field No. og bat passes CP SP BLE Daub 23:06 hrs Soprano pipistrelle Foraging along river over open field 1 23:09 hrs Common pipistrelle Foraging along river adjacent to alder woodland 23:12 hrs Leisler s bat Commuting over survey site towards woodland 23:13 hrs Soprano pipistrelle Foraging along river adjacent to alder woodland 23:17 hrs Soprano pipistrelle Foraging along river over open field 23:20 hrs Common pipistrelle Foraging along river adjacent to GAA pitch 23:23 hrs Common pipistrelle Foraging along river adjacent to security building and bridge 23:34 hrs Soprano pipistrelle Foraging along river adjacent to security building and bridge 0 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 Time Four bat species was recorded by this unit. The presence of brown long-eared bat is indicative of the dark corridor created along the river by the presence of the treelines, blocking lighting located on the factory buildings. Bat activity was recorded by this unit throughout the survey period, the number of bat passes recorded is relatively low. 23:56 hrs Daubenton s bat Foraging along river adjacent to security building and bridge COMMENTS Soprano pipistrelles and common pipistrelles were recorded utilizing the site thought the survey period. Roosts were detected on-site but these idividua bats commuted to the survey site for feeding. Foraging tended to be in areas where lighting was reduced or absent. There were sections of the river and factory where large white and high pressure sodium lights shone. During the passive monitoring (22:00hrs to 04:00 hrs) five species of bat was detected: soprano pipistrelle, common pipistrelle, Daubenton s bat, brown long-eared bat and Leisler s bat. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 193

7 Figure 21: Unit 2: River proposed to be realigned N Four bat species was recorded by this unit. The presence of the Daubenton s bat is indicative of the riverine habitat. Bat activity was recorded throughout the survey period and the number of bat passes recorded is relatively high especially in relation to soprano pipistrelles. Number of bat passes recorded at Unit 2 located in Site B proposed river to be realigned Three bat species was recorded by this unit. Bat activity was recorded throughout the survey period and the number of bat passes recorded is relatively high especially in relation to soprano pipistrelles. 4. Management of structures in view of Bat Fauna This report will draw on guidelines already available in Europe and will use the following documents: A conservation plan for Irish vesper bats, Irish Wildlife Manual No. 20 National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland. Bat Mitigation Guidelines for Ireland. Irish Wildlife Manuals, No. 25. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland. National Biodiversity Plan. Department of Arts, Heritage, Gealtacht and the Islands. Figure 21: No. of bat passes :00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 Time Unit 3: River proposed to be realigned N Number of bat passes recorded at Unit 2 located in Site B proposed river to be realigned. The status of EU protected habitats and species in Ireland: Conservation status in Ireland of habitats and species listed in the European Council Directive on the Conservation of Habitats, Flora and Fauna 92/43/EEC. National Parks and Wildlife CP Service, Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government. SP Leis Daub 4.1 Predicted Impacts Bats recorded during this survey are not roosting on-site. The survey area is used as commuting and foraging area for bats. Therefore, predicted impacts are considered to be Minor as there are extensive foraging areas for bats adjacent to the survey site and other lands managed by Lakeland Dairies e.g. alder woodland. Impact on local bat populations: a) Removal of treeline adjacent to security building and river The treeline is a row of conifer trees located adjacent to the river with a second line of popular trees along the perimeter of the GAA pitch. This conifer treeline creates a treeline corridor for bats and protects the river from lighting located on factory buildings. Therefore the corridor is relatively dark and provides a suitable commuting and foraging area for bats. 35 This corridor is used by four bat species, one of which is a light sensitive bat species. Therefore the removal of this hedgerow will have a minor impact on local bat populations. No. of bat passes CP SP Leis b) Realignment of river to the rear factory The river flows along the perimeter of the factory buildings. As part of the proposed development, this river is to be realigned to its original flow path as shown on maps from This realignment will mean that the river will be a further 50-70m from the current factory boundary. As the river will be reinstated, this proposed works will not impact on local bat populations. 5 c) Potential removal of treelines in car park to facilitate extension of warehousing 0 22:00 23:00 00:00 01:00 02:00 03:00 Time Two conifer treelines section off the car park form the current warehouse. Future plans may require an extension of the warehouse which will require these treelines to be removed. No bat activity was recorded along these two conifer treelines. Therefore, the removal of such will not have an impact on local bat populations. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 194

8 3. Bat box scheme 4.2 Mitigation Measures In survey areas where habitats present currently provide good commuting and foraging potential for bats, it is best practice to avoid damaging measures. It is proposed that the following measures be put in place to avoid or lessen the degree of impacts of potential development on bats. Mitigation by avoidance 1. Do no remove trees and shrubs along waterway banks adjacent river and to the bridge structures. Protect this habitat from any potential damage as a result of the proposed development works. 2. Treelines and shrubs should remain in-situ and remain protected from potential management work. A bat box scheme could be installed along the alder woodland to provide roosting site for local bat populations. Such can be installed on poles, 2 bat boxes per pole, a total of 2 poles. Woodcrete boxes are recommended. ( References and Bibliography Barratt, E. M., Deauville, R., Burland, T. M., Bruford, M. W., Jones, G., Racey, P. A., & Wayne, R. K DNA answers the call of pipistrelle bat species. Nature 387: Billington, G. E. & Norman, G. M. (1997) A report on the survey and conservation of bat roosts in bridges in Cumbria, Kendal. English Nature. Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Bern Convention) Mitigation by Reduction 1 Removal of linear habitats a) Minimise the removal of treeline/hedgerow should not be undertaken especially in relation to those 2 Protection of habitats located along the river adjacent to the security building. a) Any semi natural habitats should be protected from potential damage. b) Avoid the use of chemicals (weed killers etc.) within the development zone. Undertake physical removal of weed species only. 3 Limit work spaces and lighting during construction Additional Measures a) Open areas required to facilitate works should limited to areas where tree and hedgerows are not present. Lighting of such work spaces can also disrupt traditional foraging grounds for bats and therefore should be limited and should not occur during foraging period (30 minutes prior to sunset to 30 minutes after sunrise). 1. Future planting Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention) EC Directive on The Conservation of Natural habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora (Habitats Directive) Jefferies, D. J. (1972) Organochlorine Insecticide Residues in British Bats and their Significance. J. Zool. Lond. 166: Kelleher, C International Bat Fieldcraft Workshop, Killarney, Co. Kerry. National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Mullen, E Brandt s Bat Myotis brandtii in Co. Wicklow. Irish Naturalists Journal 28: 343. O Sullivan, P Bats in Ireland. Special supplement to the Irish Naturalists Journal. Racey, P. A. & Swift, S. M The residual effects of remedial timber treatments on bats. Biol. Cons. 35: Richardson, P Distribution atlas of bats in Britain and Ireland The Bat Conservation Trust, London, UK. Whilde, A Threatened mammals, birds, amphibians and fish in Ireland. Irish Red Data Book 2: Vertebrates. Belfast: HMSO. Wildlife Act 1976 and Wildlife [Amendment] Act Government of Ireland. Native tree and shrub species are recommended to be planted around the perimeter of the site tree species found in the local area e.g. hawthorn, ash, oak and blackthorn. Additional planting should also be considered in relation to buffering important bat foraging areas from artificial lighting for the proposed development site. 2. Lighting Lighting should not be installed, where possible, as part of the proposed works as it deters some bat species from foraging. Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 195

9 APPENDICES Bat ecology general The bat is the only mammal that is capable of true flight. There are over 1,100 species worldwide, representing almost a quarter of all mammal species. There are 47 species in Europe - in Ireland, ten species of bat are currently known to exist, which are classified into two families, the Rhinolophidae (Horseshoe bats) and the Vespertilionidae (Common bats). Species: Common Name Irish Status European Status Global Status Brandt s bat Data deficient Least Concern Least Concern Daubenton s bat Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Whiskered bat Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Natterer s bat Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Leisler s bat Near threatened Least Concern Least Concern Prey Nathusius pipistrelle Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern All the European bat species feed exclusively on insects. A Pipistrelle, weighing only 4 to 8 grammes, will eat up to 3000 insects every night, ensuring a build up of fat in the bat s body to allow it to survive the winter deep in hibernation. Common pipistrelle Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Soprano pipistrelle Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Brown long-eared bat Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Breeding and longevity Irish bats can produce one young per year but, more usually, only one young is born every two years (Boyd & Stebbings, 1989). This slow rate of reproduction inhibits repopulation in areas of rapid decline. Although bats have been known to live for twenty or more years, this is rare as most die in their first and the average lifespan, in the wild, is four years. Threats All bat species are in decline as they face many threats to their highly developed and specialised lifestyles. Many bats succumb to poisons used as woodworm treatments within their roosting sites (Racey & Swift, 1986). Agricultural intensification, with the loss of hedgerows, treelines, woodlands and species-rich grasslands have impacted bat species also. Habitual roosting or hibernation sites in caves, mines, trees and disused buildings are also often lost to development. Summer roosts are prone to disturbance from vandals. Agricultural pesticides accumulate in their prey, reaching lethal doses (Jefferies, 1972). Chemical treatments in cattle production sterilise dung thus ensuring that no insects can breed within it to be fed upon by bats. Likewise, river pollution, from agricultural runoff, reduces the abundance of aquatic insects. Road building, with the resultant loss of foraging and roosting sites is a significant cause in the reduction of bat populations across Europe. Lesser horseshoe bat Least Concern Least Concern Least Concern Marnell, F., Kingston, N. & Looney, D. (2009) Ireland Red List No. 3: Terrestrial Mammals, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Dublin, Ireland. Extinction As recently as 1992, the greater mouse-eared bat Myotis myotis became the first mammal to become extinct in Britain since the wolf in the 18th century. Ireland Red List No. 3: Terrestrial Mammals Bats Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Lakeland Dairies Co-Operative Society Ltd - Lear, Bailieborough, Co. Cavan 196