Bats: survey or research level 2 licence (CL18)

This licence allows you to disturb or capture bats by hand or using:

• endoscopes
• static hand-held nets
• torches

You can disturb but not handle hibernating bats.

You need a:

• level 1 licence if you only need to use a torch
• level 3 licence to use mist nets and acoustic lures
• level 4 licence to use harp traps

For survey, research or conservation work not covered by this licence you must apply for either:

• an individual licence
• a level 1 licence
• a level 3 licence
• a level 4 licence

For development work affecting bats, you must apply for a mitigation licence.

You must release all bats at the place where they were captured immediately after they are examined.

Register with Natural England

Before you can use this licence, you must register with Natural England using the registration form.

Natural England will confirm your registration in writing, usually within 30 working days. You must not carry out any licensed activities until you receive written confirmation of your registration.

What you need to pay

It costs £80£104 to register for a new CL18 licence.

It costs £35 a year to continue your registration.

You must declare the intended use of the licence on your registration form. To continue your registration, you must declare how you used the licence in the past year on your annual survey return. This will determine if you need to pay, such as to survey bats for development projects.

Natural England will refund unsuccessful applications.

When you do not need to pay

You do not need to pay if the licence is only used for:

• voluntary purposes – any work you do is unpaid and you are registered with an organisation, charity or local recording group as a volunteer
• conservation, science or research purposes and research related to the protected species is carried out by a student or employee of an academic institution or research body

How to pay

You can pay using a bank card. Follow the GOV.UK Pay link on the registration form or survey return form.

Read the terms and conditions for paying for a wildlife licence.

References

You need to complete a reference to support a survey or research licence form when you register for this licence if you:

• have not held a licence for the species or a similar species for the last 3 years
• have a licence but want to add new methods

Report action taken

You must complete the survey return form by 30 November each year, even if you’ve taken no action or did not find target species.

You must report your actions from 1 November to 31 October each year. You must list all surveys carried out under this licence where you found bats. For each survey, you must record:

• the bat species found
• survey location – include the 10 figure Ordnance Survey grid reference, site name, county and postcode (where available)
• date of each survey
• visit type and roost type
• number of bats you observed or captured
• the purpose of your survey

You can also record additional information such as:

• the sex and age of bats found
• methods used for that survey
• notes on the survey site

You’ll also need to give:

• the names of accredited agents who worked under your licence
• whether you followed best practice when using the licence

You must also send your results to the Local Record Centre. You can do this by recording your results on the iRecord website or contacting the Local Record Centre.

Continue your registration

You can use the survey return form to continue your registration. It costs £35 a year to continue your registration, unless you are exempt.