Network Rail is expanding its ground-breaking great crested newt Licence to its Southern region, covering a further 3,300 miles of track, to boost conservation for the species.
Great crested newts are a protected species in the UK and have declined significantly over recent decades due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Railways are an important habitat for lots of British wildlife including newts, so mitigation licences are needed for many trackside operations; unfortunately, the licensing process can be complex and can slow essential works.
In collaboration with NatureSpace Partnership, who work with conservationists and industry experts to protect great crested newt habitats, Network Rail designed a bespoke Organisational Licensing Scheme for newts. The scheme funds a long-term and landscape-scale conservation strategy for the species, fulfilling part of the operator’s wider commitment to nature recovery laid out in its Biodiversity Action Plan 2020.
The Organisational Licence greatly simplifies the licensing process for Network Rail and its sub-contractors, allowing rail works to progress efficiently without delays and unexpected costs. The scheme allows railway projects to access newt licensing at any time of the year, without the need to survey for newts in the Spring – avoiding seasonal delays.
With more passengers than ever relying on the railways and with extensive upgrades in the pipeline, the simplified newt licence is a crucial initiative for rail projects in the Southern region, which carries over 7,000 passenger and freight services every weekday – a third of the UK’s rail operations.
The first Organisational Licence was launched in Network Rail’s Eastern region last year, authorising over 50 rail projects under the scheme. Funds from the scheme are handed to the Newt Conservation Partnership, the conservation delivery team of experts from national amphibian and freshwater charities.
Six compensation sites have been created by the Newt Conservation Partnership across the Eastern region, consisting of 16 hectares of habitat with eight new or restored ponds – the flagship site being a network of newt habitat at a 600+ hectare rewilding project in Lincolnshire.
The Southern region – covering Dorset, Hampshire, East and West Sussex, Surrey, Kent, South London, and the High-Speed channel services route, is home to some of the world’s busiest and most complex railway infrastructure. With over 544 stations and approximately 700 million passengers annually, including London Waterloo, Britain’s busiest station, the Southern region plays a critical role in the country’s rail network.
“The Network Rail Organisational Licence illustrates how collaborative working with conservation bodies and regulators can bring both long-term conservation and business benefits together. This supports our ambitious sustainability and biodiversity goals while delivering rail improvements on our infrastructure and putting our passengers first.”
Maria Jarosz, Principal Environment & Social Value Manager for the Southern region at Network Rail
“It’s a pleasure for us to partner Network Rail Southern region to improve biodiversity on the railways and it is great to see a major infrastructure provider embracing their environmental responsibilities – we hope others will follow Network Rail’s example.”
Dr Tom Tew, NatureSpace CEO
“We are delighted that Network Rail Southern will now use the Organisational Licence for great crested newts. The Licence provides a quick and simple option that both ensures newts are conserved and allows critical rail work to proceed without delay.
“The Network Rail Organisational Licence for great crested newts removes the need for individual licence applications for routine works, and funds habitat creation along a significant part of the rail network.
Duncan Brown, Operations Manager for District-Level Licensing at Natural England
The largest-scale licence of its type, this has been developed with Network Rail and NatureSpace to deliver habitats at the landscape scale. The expansion of the Organisational Licence to encompass Network Rail’s Southern region will help fund nature recovery across an increased area of the rail network and deliver benefits for this iconic species.”
