Water voles

The water vole (Arvicola terrestris) is the largest species of vole in Britain. They are excellent swimmers and inhabit wetland areas including ditches, streams and rivers, creating burrows into the banks.

Whilst water voles do not hibernate, they spend much of the winter below ground. They feed on aquatic vegetation including reeds, rushes and sedges.

They are extremely shy and as a result are very rarely seen.

Protection

Due to habitat loss and predation by mink, populations of water voles have severely declined in the UK. During the 1990s the water vole population decreased by 90%. Therefore, they are fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. This makes it an offence to harm or kill a water vole, or to damage or destroy water vole habitat.

Water voles are a priority species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, and planning permission could be refused unless the developer can prove that:

Water voles will be protected during the development process.
Disturbance of water vole habitat is kept to a minimum.

If undertaking development works will compromise or destroy water vole habitat, it is necessary to remove the water voles by trapping them and translocating them to suitable replacement habitat. A conservation licence should be granted by Natural England before this can be undertaken.

Mitigation

Because water voles tend to live in and around water courses, it is possible to protect them from development works by erecting fencing around their habitat thus ensuring that construction does not occur within the area.

If only a small area of habitat is affected it can be possible to cut the vegetation down gradually to make the area unsuitable for water voles causing them to move away by themselves. If this method is unsuccessful or if the area affected is too large, it may be necessary to install water vole fencing and traps. The trapped water voles are then moved, under licence from Natural England, to an area of suitable habitat.