Protecting wild birds: Consultation on Amending the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which allows certain species of wild birds to be killed or taken outside of their close seasons

Overview

This consultation seeks views on proposed changes to Part 1, Schedule 2 (2.1) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA). Schedule 2.1 sets out which wild bird species may be killed or taken outside the “close season”. The close season is the time of year when birds are protected to support breeding and migration, and it varies by species.

Schedule 2.1 currently lists 19 species of wild birds in England and Wales and 23 species in Scotland, mainly ducks, geese and wading birds. Although all wild birds are protected under the Act, Schedule 2.1 provides limited exemptions that allow these listed species to be shot outside the close season, mainly for recreational shooting and harvesting.

In 2023, Defra and Natural England (NE) carried out a review of the protection we afford the species in Schedule 2.1 of the WCA in England. Similar reviews were carried out by NatureScot on behalf of the Scottish government and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on behalf of the Welsh government.

As a result of these reviews, this consultation is proposing changes to the list of species under Schedule 2.1 of the WCA, as it applies in England, Scotland and Wales, to provide greater protection for certain species currently listed. These proposed changes are summarised in the table below:

In 2025, following the conclusions of the reviews, Ministers of the UK government, Scottish government and Welsh government recognised the opportunity to work together, and to jointly propose making changes to legislation with the ambition of protecting species of wild birds showing declining populations. This public consultation (a legal requirement before making any changes to Schedule 2.1) has therefore been co-ordinated across the three governments. It also seeks to minimise the burden on British stakeholders who might otherwise have had to respond to three separate consultations from three different governments asking broadly the same questions.

Why your views matter

These changes would directly affect anybody who participates in the shooting of any of the species listed above.

The proposals in this consultation build on the British Association of Shooting and Conservation’s (BASC’s) Sustainable Shooting Code of Practice for Wildfowl Quarry Species which covers voluntary restraint for certain species, targeted conservation measures and participation in data and evidence-gathering initiatives.