News & Views

Buildings are important for several well-known bird species: swifts, house martins, swallows, house sparrows, starlings, barn owls and even peregrine falcons.  In the past, birds have been able to exploit opportunities left by traditional building practices and imperfect workmanship. Nesting birds depend on particular features of buildings such as cavities and crevices and access into eaves. By working together, ecologists, architects and planners can ensure that new developments offer wildlife opportunities within new buildings.
15 January, 2010
Dr Peter Shepherd attended the Landscape Institute Awards 2009 to receive an award which highly commends BSG and LDA Design for the Thames Basin Heaths project. The award was in the in the Management category.
21 November, 2009

BSG will be exhibiting at BWEA’s (British Wind Energy Association) 31st annual conference and exhibition in Liverpool in October. The event focuses on developments in wind, wave and tidal energy, and small wind systems, and is attended by a wide range of organisations with an...

01 October, 2009
BSG Partner James Gillespie has co-authored a paper on ‘Applying Connectivity Mapping to Spatial Planning in Wales’. Connectivity maps are key elements of a wider framework of actions to improve connectivity and protect biodiversity. There is strong political interest in this approach in Wales and a drive to include concepts of ecological connectivity within spatial planning at local and national levels to contribute to a broader green infrastructure. This paper reviews the overall approach in Wales to date and reports on the findings of studies in South East Wales.
10 September, 2009
Dr Peter Shepherd and Judy Stroud will present a workshop on 'Mitigation for Roosts in Buildings' at the Bat Conservation Trust National Bat Conference, September 2009. The workshop will look at information from a recent review of EPS licence returns and questions raised by this, along with trying to set out some key principles and objectives for mitigation of roosts in buildings.
01 September, 2009
Ecobuild is the world's biggest event dedicated to sustainable design, construction and the built environment. The exhibition was held at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre in London between 3rd and 5th March. There were 800 exhibitors, as well as conference and seminar sessions.
06 March, 2009
The Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 have been amended again, with the new regulations coming into force at the end of January. The main changes affecting ecologists and developers are that the guidance notes provided by the Statutory Nature Conservation Organisations will now have legal force and will have to be taken into account by the courts.
31 January, 2009
This judicial review case addresses how local planning authorities (LPAs) discharge their statutory duty under Regulation 3(4) of the Conservation Regulations (1994) to have regard to the requirements of the Habitats Directive in the exercise of their functions. The case focuses on how LPAs should approach the discharge of this duty in coming to planning decisions and in particular the need to properly consider the three tests set out in the Conservation Regulations that should be considered when harm to European Protected Species (EPS) is likely.
31 January, 2009