Habitats: Managing the Ecological Impacts of Noise on Wildlife Habitats for Sustainable Development

The objective of the Habitats project is to integrate research in the fields of ecological impacts and of environmental noise to develop management tools and processes to enable sustainable development. Rapid population expansion and economic development against the backdrop of climate and biodiversity crises presents major global challenges. Global society is dependent on ecosystem services, underpinned by biodiversity. In the UK alone, these ecosystem services are valued at £761 billion/year and human noise impacts will significantly degrade that value unless managed appropriately. We can no longer consider nature to be separate from our economy and society, it needs to be part of business, cultural and economic decision making. The Habitats project is leading the development of an international industrial and academic network to research and explore new ways and new technologies to better measure, understand and model the effects of noise on wildlife habitats. However, current noise pollution legislation is focused on humans; despite policy aspirations, there is no systematic approach to assessing, regulating, or mitigating noise impacts on wildlife. This paper will review the scientific evidence available for underpinning environmental noise legislation, regulation, and policy development for managing the ecological impacts of noise on wildlife habitats.