A BETTER understanding of the impacts of suburban artificial lighting on wildlife, especially bats, has rallied the county council to implement measures to reduce their impact and contribute to new guidance for use by lighting professionals, planning officers and developers.
An increase of 49 per cent in artificial light at night over the last 30 years drives home the necessity for updated guidance and action from contributors to mitigate the impact on bats and other wildlife caused by current lighting infrastructure.
The ecology team leader at Worcestershire County Council (WCC), Cody Levine, along with experts from various sectors, including highways, lighting designers, manufacturers and local planning authorities have worked on the latest guidance from the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP).
The 2023 ILP guidance has a strong focus on avoidance as a key tool to mitigate impacts from lighting on bats, as well has having a range of case studies to demonstrate principles outlined in the document.
Cody Levine explained how current lighting infrastructure, which can be unshielded or poorly aimed, wastes energy and is often directed towards wildlife corridors, impacting animals, reducing movement between habitats and limiting bio-diversity as a result.
Since 2018, when the ILP’s previous guidance was released, there has been an increase in the knowledge on how many of the UK’s 18 bat species are impacted by lighting and an increase in knowledge on how this impact can be reduced.
By using warmer coloured lighting – which WCC has pledged to do with it’s Rapid LED Roll-out scheme – the infrastructure can be more considerate of wildlife and reduce its impacts on animals and habitats.
WCC’s LED plans – which will see 2,500 ‘wildlife-sensitive’ lights installed across the region – will build on the work already done since 2018 to reduce the impacts caused by its street-lighting.
The first of WCC’s ‘wildlife-sensitive’ lighting installations was in Warndon in Worcester. Further lighting has been installed in Worcester city centre, Pershore, Upton, Redditch and Evesham.
Councillor Richard Morris, WCC’s cabinet member for environment, said: “I’m really pleased, that in Worcestershire, we’re taking the impact that lighting at night has on various species of wildlife, but in particular bats, very seriously.”
Cody Levine said: “This new guidance helps showcase, nationally, how Worcestershire County Council is setting best practice; maintaining highway safety, reducing energy demands and protecting our natural environment.”
Visit: www.theilp.org.uk/documents/guidance-note-8-bats-and-artificial-lighting/ to access ILP’s free guidance.
