Great Crested Newt Surveys
Great crested newts benefit from strict legal protection in Britain, notably The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 which makes it an offence to deliberately capture, injure, kill or disturb this species. In addition, it is also an offence to take or destroy their eggs or damage or destroy their breeding sites or resting places. The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 lists great crested newts as species of principal importance, which means that public authorities must take steps to maintain and enhance their populations during the exercise of their functions. Therefore, any proposals that include the destruction of habitat potentially used by great crested newts risks committing an offence and must be preceded by an ecological survey.
GCN are amphibians and although they breed in ponds and waterbodies, they live on land for most of the year. They live in woodland, rough grassland and scrub and use hedgerows to disperse around the landscape.
Habitat Suitability Assessments for GCN can be carried out at any time of year with the optimum period being from March to October. Habitats are assessed during Preliminary Ecological Appraisals and the suitability of ponds for breeding can be assessed based on size, water quality, vegetation present etc.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys are often undertaken as a preliminary form of survey to determine presence/absence and must be undertaken between 15 April and the 30 June.
Great crested newts are active between February and October, with survey techniques timed to occur between mid-March and mid-June. Four survey visits in suitable weather conditions are required for presence/absence surveys, with at least two survey visits undertaken between mid-April and mid-May. For population size class assessments six visits must be undertaken in total, with three visits undertaken mid-April and mid-May.
At least three survey methods must be utilised during each survey visit for presence/absence surveys, preferably egg searching, torch surveys, and bottle-trapping. The two latter methods are required for population size class assessments. Netting surveys and refuge searching can also be used for presence/absence surveys, where appropriate.
