Stakeholder consultation on the 7th Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5 & 8 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act

Overview

Background

Every five years, the Country Nature Conservation Bodies in Great Britain (Natural England, Natural Resources Wales and NatureScot), working jointly through the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee, review Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, concerning plant and animal species to be protected from persecution in the wild. This review provides recommendations to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and to Ministers for the Environment in the Scottish Government and Welsh Government, who will then decide on possible changes to these schedules. This is known as the Quinquennial Review. As part of the review, stakeholders are provided with the opportunity to submit evidence and views.

Why your views matter

Purpose of the consultation

The purposes of this consultation are (1) to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to comment on the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies’ recommendations concerning individual species in relation to their retention, regrading, addition or removal on Schedules 5 and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as well as (2) to gather stakeholder views on criteria for species selection as updated since the 6^th Quinquennial Review undertaken in 2014.

We are mindful that during this consultation process further evidence is coming to light on species threat status and indeed some of this is still incomplete so the Statutory Nature Conservation Bodies welcome being pointed to further new evidence.

The selection process

There are five questions relating to methods for species selection and the role of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. As part of the 6^th Quinquennial Review certain additional recommendations were made and these are set out in section 6.  These additional recommendations informed the definition of the Eligibility and Decision criteria for species selection which have been used in the 7^th Quinquennial Review.

Comments received on these questions will be used to make recommendations in our final report for possible amendments in relation to future Reviews.

The species

A list of provisional recommendations regarding the addition, retention, regrading or removal of each species from the Schedules, including a short justification, is provided in the spreadsheet QQR7_species_recommendation below. You are being asked if you agree with the provisional recommendations being made.  To comment, please use the species group links in the green box below.

Evidence submitted as part of this consultation will be analysed and incorporated into the final recommendations for addition, retention, regrading and removal of species. The status of species on the Schedules may change as a result of new evidence/justifications presented.