Wildlife Management and Licensing
Wildlife Management and Licensing has three main roles:
- provide advice on wildlife management - see our leaflets and frequently asked wildlife questions: (562kb)
- issue licences - download our application forms
- assist with enforcement and inspection - including suspected wildlife poisoning.
Site map - try this if you cannot easily find what you need.
To read more about our work see our leaflet Wildlife Management and Licensing - Balancing the needs of people and wildlife
. We are committed to providing a high quality service. So that people know what they can expect with regard to customer service we have published the details of our service standards: (186kb). We regularly monitor our performance against these standards and our performance statistics will be published at 6 monthly intervals.
All of our guidance, best practice guides and information relating to Wildlife Management and Licensing is given in the List of Regulatory Guidance, Best Practice and Information: (145kb)
. Each entry provides a link to the documents. Publication of this list is part of the Government’s commitment to the Code of Practice on Guidance on Regulation.
Seasonal tips
Great crested newts
-Ensure survey equipment is properly disinfected between different site visits. With the onset of spring, hundreds of surveys will now be undertaken in ponds across England. Due to the risk of spreading disease through these surveys, all surveyors should be aware of, and follow, the ARG-UK guidance on how to minimise the risk of spreading disease (particularly Chytridiomycosis) between amphibian populations. Please see the ARG guidance. Further guidance on chytridiomycosis in relation to licensing can be found in our FAQ’s: (562kb)
-Ensure surveys are spread across the season. Wherever possible, Natural England recommends that surveys of ponds are spread across the survey season in accordance with the Great crested newt mitigation guidelines. Spreading surveys across the season will maximise the likelihood of identifying the peak of newt breeding within a particular pond. ‘Clustering’ surveys over a short period (even if it is within the recommended survey season) can result in the peak in newt numbers being missed and an inaccurate population size class assessment being made.
White-nose syndrome -advice for batworkers
With the bat hibernation season upon us and the recent discovery of Geomyces destructans (the fungus associated with white-nose syndrome) in Europe, the Bat Conservation Trust in conjunction with Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and the Veterinary Laboratories Agency, has revised the white-nose syndrome guidance for bat workers in the UK and the Isle of Man.
This new guidance has been divided into sections that define what is being asked of licensed and unlicensed bat workers undertaking hibernation and swarming surveys. We ask that all individuals visiting underground sites familiarise themselves with this guidance, particularly the sample protocols and decontamination advice. We also suggest regularly checking the Bat Conservation Trust website, to keep up to date with suspect cases under investigation.
If you have any questions about this advice please contact the Bat Conservation Trust on 0845 1300 228 or alternatively email LWorledge@bats.org.uk or hmiller@bats.org.uk.
Latest news
(16th April) Natural England have released the April edition of the EPS Mitigation Licensing Newsletter: (298kb)
. For all previous issues see the EPS newsletter page.(1st February) Natural England have updated our Example Bat Method Statement: (446kb)
. The main changes are the addition of landowner declarations to Section E of Document 2, an updated survey section (also including DNA analysis of droppings), the impacts section and the timetable have been amended. This document should be read in conjunction with other published guidance and the Method Statement template.(16th January) Minor amendments have been made to two Natural England documents. A small change has been made to the flowchart on How to get a Licence WML-G12: (1mb)
. The contact details have been updated in the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects guidance WML-G36.: (394kb) Thank you to a customer for raising this omission.(1st January) The 2012 General Licences and Class licences can now be downloaded from the website. Please note that only very minor changes: (143kb)
have been implemented this year.(21st December) The latest EPS mitigation licensing newsletter: (244kb)
has just been released. Please note that our How to get a licence guidance: (1mb) has been updated.(21st December) Interim guidance on dormouse surveying to support mitigation licence applications has been released WML-G37: (277kb)
. Survey queries are the most common dormouse questions from our customers. This guidance aims to dispel the common misconceptions with regard to surveying and provide advice on what is required by Natural England so we hope that you find it useful.(7th December) New guidance is now available to help developers and consultant ecologists engage with Natural England about Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) and European Protected Species (EPS): (394kb)
. Please note that this guidance will be kept under review and may be amended. For NSIPs involving EPS, our Regulation team will provide you with early advice and opinion on your proposals in relation to all 3 licensing tests, without a planning consent needing to be in place. This is so the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) can have confidence that Natural England has considered the issues relating to protected species.(10th November) Reptile Mitigation Guidelines (TIN102) have been withdrawn. Following some useful early feedback from ecological consultants, Natural England has decided to withdraw the first edition of Technical Information Note 102, dated 9 September 2011. We wish to ensure that the guidelines are as clear and widely accepted as possible. We welcome any further comments on the first edition before 1 January 2012. The second edition of the Reptile Mitigation Guidelines will be issued as soon as possible, certainly before the start of the next active season for reptiles, please follow previously published guidance in the interim period.
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Setting the record straight over wildlife licensing myths
We sometimes see misleading information about wildlife licensing.
Natural England aims to bust the myths.