@timhounsome @biocensus Ornithological Impact Assessment: moving towards a standardised approach Dr Tim Hounsome CEcol MCIEEM
Existing guidance?
Nobody cares about birds, Tim 1000000 900000 800000 700000 600000 500000 400000 300000 200000 100000 0 RSPB All political parties combined Countryside Alliance Mammal Society Bat Conservation Trust
How many visits? When asked I used to recommend six When told: 5, 4, 10, 2, 1 but mostly 3
The BTO Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) 3,697 1km squares surveyed in 2014
So how many should it be? I asked you. Answers: 1 to 10 Most people said 4-6 Date Number of species recorded Number of new species recorded 03/04/08 38 38 18/04/08 25 5 03/05/08 31 3 11/05/08 35 2 28/05/08 25 2
Research: BTO CBC data maps Adam Tuner ACIEEM as part of his Biocensus sponsored MSc project 10 visits - attempt to record everything 28 sites visited 10 times over 10 years Lowland woodland in England Assumption that after 10-100% of birds present will have been recorded
Results In order to detect 90% of the species present 5.5 visits were needed In order to detect 95% - 6.9 visits
A way forward Establishment of a working group with a remit to: 1. Review the current guidance and decide if there is a need for a standardise approach in the form of a Best Practice Guidance document 2. If there were a need; to design it through consultation with interested parties 3. List the key research questions that we need to answer in order to inform and evolve this guidance
Not a whinge.. - Quick run through areas that I feel need to be looked at - Definitely not exhaustive - invite input from any interested parties
When are bird surveys required? What triggers a survey? Proximity to designated sites? Baseline diversity? Record centre data? Whim of the ecologist? Currently variable at best Need to avoid accusations of work creation, so do we need a robust and defensible decision process?
When should they be done? Breeding season (CBC/BBS legacy?) static population Migration and winter just as important for the population? More than one year?
How should they be done? Adapted CBC method Transects covering the whole site Variable start points Start at dawn Records of sightings, estimate of abundance and proof of breeding? Standardised data collection enables comparisons Would help if this was defined in a single place
At what frequency? All six in a six week period? 6 days? Can you conduct a valid survey starting late in the season e.g. early May? All the above needs research/review.
Who does them? Potentially thorny issue Becoming a good bird surveyor takes years of practice How do we know how good someone is? Assessment? Accreditation?
Assessment of importance Huge advantage over other taxa groups New national atlas and increasing number of county atlases Could develop a standardised approach to evaluation A central depository of data could improve accuracy of evaluations over time, and inform cumulative impact assessments?
Submission of records All records collected by consultants should be submitted to the local records centre, the county recorder and the BTO Should be an opt out type approach Most clients don t mind Can give a 2kmx2km grid ref to ensure anonymity
Assessment of impacts and cumulative impacts Regular reviews of impact assessment accuracy Pushing post-construction monitoring where feasible Regular analysis and publication of results All will ensure an increasing amount of impact assessment is evidence based and not just professional judgement Crucial need for a feedback mechanism in what we do
In conclusion There is a need for a review of the current guidance and an assessment of whether a Best Practice Guidance document should be published I advocate the establishment of a Working Group to oversee this process Initial research by Biocensus seems to suggest that three visits may not always be enough
In conclusion More work is needed to establish the answers to the following generic questions: 1. When are bird surveys required? 2. How should they be done? 3. How often should they be done? 4. How many visits should be made? 5. Who is qualified to do them and how can we ensure this? 6. How can we ensure a standardised evaluation of ornithological receptors? 7. How good are we at predicting impacts? 8. How effective are the mitigation measures we recommend?
In Conclusion Guidance should be just that..not the rules The guidance should be a dynamic document under constant review and should identify the next research questions These research questions should be published and universities encouraged to take them on
This is just the start. Thank you