The Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2015

Regulation 4(2)

SCHEDULE 1 Damage to Protected Species, Natural Habitats and Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Damage to a protected species or natural habitat

1.  In the case of a protected species or natural habitat (other than damage to a site of special scientific interest, to which paragraph 4 applies) the damage must be such that it has a significant adverse effect on reaching or maintaining the favourable conservation status of the protected species or natural habitat, taking into account—

(a) the conservation status at the time of the damage;

(b) the services provided by the amenities they produce;

(c) their capacity for natural regeneration;

(d) the number of individuals, their density or the area covered;

(e) the role of the particular individuals or of the damaged area in relation to the species or to the habitat conservation and the rarity of the species or habitat assessed at the relevant level, whether local, regional or in the European Union as a whole;

(f) the capacity of the species for propagation, its viability, or the capacity of the habitat for natural regeneration; and

(g) the capacity of the species or habitat, within a short time of the damage being caused, to recover to a condition that leads to its state at the time of the damage or better without any intervention other than increased protection measures.

Conservation status of natural habitats

2.—(1) A habitat’s conservation status is the sum of the influences acting on that habitat and its typical species that may affect its long-term natural distribution, structure and functions as well as the long-term survival of its typical species.

(2) The conservation status of a habitat is favourable if—

(a) the natural range and areas covered within that natural range are stable or increasing;

(b) the specific structure and functions which are necessary for the long-term maintenance of the natural habitat exist and are likely to continue to exist for the foreseeable future; and

(c) the conservation status of its typical species is favourable.

Conservation status of species

3.—(1) The conservation status of a species is the sum of the influences acting on the species concerned that may affect the long-term distribution and abundance of its populations.

(2) The conservation status is favourable if—

(a) the population dynamics data on the species indicate that it is maintaining itself on a long-term basis as a viable component of its natural habitat;

(b) the natural range of the species is neither being reduced nor is likely to be reduced for the foreseeable future; and

(c) there is, and will probably continue to be, a sufficiently large habitat to maintain its populations on a long-term basis.

Sites of special scientific interest

4.—(1) In the case of a site of special scientific interest, the damage must be to—

(a) the species or habitats notified under section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; or

(b) a protected species or natural habitat.

(2) The damage must have an adverse effect on the integrity of the site (that is, the coherence of its ecological structure and function, across its whole area, that enables it to sustain the habitat, complex of habitats or the levels of populations of the species affected).

Express authorisation

5.  Damage to a protected species or natural habitat, and damage to a site of special scientific interest, does not include damage caused by an act expressly authorised by the relevant authorities in accordance with—

(a) Part 2 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981;

(b) the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994(1);

(c) the Offshore Petroleum Activities (Conservation of Habitats) Regulations 2001(2);

(d) the Offshore Marine Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 2007(3); or

(e) the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010(4).

(1)

S.I. 1994/2716, amended by paragraph 233(1) of schedule 22 to the Environment Act 1995 (c.25); S.I. 1996/525; 1997/3055; 2000/192 and 1973; 2003/2155; 2005/3389; 2006/1282; 2007/1843 and 3538; 2008/2172; 2009/6, 1307, 2438 and 3160; and paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 11 to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (c.23); and revoked (in relation to England and Wales) by S.I. 2010/490.

(2)

S.I. 2001/1754, amended by S.I. 2007/77 and 1842; and 2010/1513.

(3)

S.I. 2007/1842, amended by S.I. 2009/7; 2010/490, 491 and 1513; 2011/2043; 2012/1809 and 1928; and 2013/755.

(4)

S.I. 2010/490, amended by S.I. 2011/603 and 625; 2012/630, 635, 637 and 1927; and 2013/755.