Water Vole Surveys

Water voles are one of the UK’s rarest mammals. Once widespread along the UK’s rivers, dykes and streams, habitat loss as well as predation by the American mink has caused near population collapse in certain areas of the country.

As a result, they are categorised as endangered on the England Red List for mammals and are included on the list of species of principle importance in England under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006.

Water voles are also further protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it an offense to intentionally kill, injure, or capture them, and to intentionally or recklessly damage or obstruct their burrows.

For development projects, it's crucial to conduct surveys and obtain a species licence if any impact cannot be ruled out.

At Exo Environmental, we can help you check for water vole presence in your project area.  Water vole surveys should be carried out during the breeding season from Mid-April to September with peak time being between June & August. 

Two surveys should be conducted, with one during the first half of the season between April & June, and the second between July & September.

During the survey, the ecologist should check for field signs, such as footprints, burrows, feeding remains and latrines.  They should check both upstream and downstream of the project area on both banks for a minimum distance of 5m.

If these field signs are observed and positively identified as belonging to water voles, then the findings will be published in a short report.

In this report, the ecologist will set out further recommendations, for example, whether mitigation can be used to avoid impact or if works need to take place under a Natural England licence to ensure water voles are not disturbed.

Exo have recently conducted water vole surveys on behalf of Landmarc and the Ministry of Defence (MOD) on STANTA training area in Norfolk and at Fingringhoe Ranges in Essex, in order for MOD to proceed with vital infrastructure replacement.

If you think your project needs a water vole survey or are not sure and want to chat with our experts, then please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Water Vole, taken Saturday, 13 May, 2011 cc-by-sa/2.0 - © Peter Trimming - https://www.flickr.com/photos/peter-trimming/6038169781/