Conservation and Biodiversity – Onshore Overview

Key Legislation:

Bat Habitats Regulation (No. 2) Bill
Countryside and Rights of Way (CRoW) Act (2000)(England and Wales)
Directive 2000/60/EC establishing a framework for community action in the field of water policy (the Water Framework Directive (WFD))
Directive 2009/147/EC on the conservation of wild birds (the birds directive) (formerly 79/409/EEC)
Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and wild fauna and flora (the habitats directive)
Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004
Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (2006) (England and Wales
Regulation (EU) 1143/2014 on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species. This Regulation sets out rules to prevent, minimise and mitigate the adverse impact on biodiversity of the introduction and spread within the Union, both intentional and unintentional, of invasive alien species.
The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Amendment (No.2) (Scotland) Regulations 2008
The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2011
The Conservation of Habitats and Species (Amendment) Regulations 2011
The Conservation of Habitats and Species and Planning (Various Amendments) (England and Wales) Regulations 2018
The Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 as amended by The Conservation of Habitats and Species (Amendment) Regulations 2012
The Protection of Badgers Act (1992)
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)
Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011

For more detail on the Legislation relevant to this page, please use the following links:

Guidance Notes:

Environmental permit: pre-application advice form including nature and heritage conservation screening. A Form to get help from the Environment Agency to complete environmental permit application to carry out a heritage and nature conservation screen.
Marine planning: Second outputs for north east, north west, south east and south west marine plan areas Marine planning engagement events. Iteration 2 of public engagement on draft visions and options for marine planning in the north east, north west, south east and south west.
The UK Government introduced a new approach to conserving the UK’s wildlife and habitats in 2007. The framework ‘Conserving Biodiversity – The UK Approach’ calls for joined up working across the public, voluntary and business sectors in the UK on a variety of agreed goals and priorities for the greater good of biodiversity.
Wildlife Management for England (Feb 2010) (PDF document): This document, published by Defra sets out a policy making framework for resolving human-wildlife conflicts and seeks to allow a greater understanding of when and why Government will intervene in wildlife management situations.

Consents required:

Consent(s) required is (are) dependent on the process. Further information on the following environmental studies which may apply to O&G onshore operations is available via the links below:

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) – onshore developments (Planning Applications for onshore infrastructure)
EIA – onshore pipelines (PCA, Planning Applications for onshore pipelines)
Requirements for ‘Habitats Regulatory Assessment’ (AA) (may be required for any activity with potential to have significant effect on European Protected Habitats or Species)
European Protected Species (EPS) Licensing (may be required for any onshore activity which may disturb wild animals of a European Protected Species in such a way as to significantly affect: a) the ability of any significant group of animals to survive or breed, or b) the local distribution or abundance of that species.)

Amendments to the Bonn Convention:

The Bonn Convention on the conservation of migratory species of wild animals aims to conserve terrestrial, marine and avian migratory species throughout their range. It was concluded under the United Nations Environment Programme and is concerned with the conservation of wildlife and habitats on a global scale. Within the EU, the requirements of the Bonn convention are delivered through the EU Habitats Directive and its transposition into legislation within each member state

Monitoring:

See the Consent Needed and How to Obtain It tab for further details.

Reporting:

See the Consent Needed and How to Obtain It tab for further details.

Non Compliance:

See the Consent Needed and How to Obtain It tab for further details.

Renewal:

See the Consent Needed and How to Obtain It tab for further details

Wildlife Licensing: comment on new policies for European Protected Species	Natural England is seeking views on whether four new policies could be permitted under licence to benefit European Protected species whilst improving flexibility for development (link here).Consultation document is available here.
Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (Authorised Operations) Order SSI 2016/38	This order came into force on 3^rd March 2016 and applies to Scotland only. It describes operations where consent from Scottish Natural Heritage is not required. It revokes the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 (Authorised Operations) Order SSI 2011/419 (link here).
Report on the Work of the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives – Marine Evidence Group (Update on progress from the Marine Evidence Group on key evidence gaps identified in the Habitats and Wild Birds Directive Review):	The Marine Evidence Group was established in mid-2012 to fulfil measures on improving marine data and evidence set out in the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives Implementation Review. In particular, it was a response to ongoing difficulties in assessing the impacts of marine developments on protected sites and species. The Group is conducting this by addressing gaps in evidence that can create uncertainties when undertaking Habitats Regulations Assessments which may hamper fast, effective and proportionate decision-making. This report provides an update on the progress made so far by the Marine Evidence Group in addressing these key evidence gaps identified in the Habitats and Wild Birds Directives Implementation Review and on improving access and use of data. The report can be accessed on the Defra website (PDF document).
Ten Year Health Check for UK’s most important bird sites	The JNCC has submitted a review of the important UK bird species status with respect to the Special Protection Areas (SPAs) designated to protect them.