Bats and Artificial Lighting Symposium

A member of our Principal Ecologist Team attended The Bats and Artificial Lighting Symposium on 28th February 2023 in London, which had been organised by the Bat Conservation Trust and the Institution of Lighting Professionals in anticipation for the launch of their updated guidance note 08 (and hosted by Arup). Despite the actual launch of the guidance being delayed by a few weeks, it was really great seeing the two industries come together to present some very interesting and informative talks given by lighting and ecological professionals alike.

The key take-home messages of the day were:

- Engage with a lighting designer and ecological consultant at an early stage of the project

- Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate!

- Always in the first instance assess whether lighting is actually needed at all – avoidance is the ideal option

- No ‘one size fits all’ solution to all projects, so the first two points are essential for devising the most appropriate scheme

- Bollard lighting will largely be discouraged, given that it is rarely the best solution for either bats or for safety/security and they are often vandalised

- There are many more case studies included in the updated guidance to provide worked examples of existing lighting schemes/options

- Hope that more projects will be subject to post-development monitoring of LUX levels and of bat activity to further improve our knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work

We will provide a full update when the revised guidance note document is officially launched in a few weeks’ time.

If you need any help with development projects in relation to bats and lighting, bat mitigation and/or bat licensing, please do not hesitate to get in touch for some advice.