Natural England - EPS Legal Status
EPS Legal Status
On this page:
- Summary of legal protection of European Protected Species
- January 2009 Changes to the Habitats Regulations and Offshore Marine Regulations
- Additional species added to Schedule two of the Regulations on 1 October 2008
- What changes came into force on 21 August 2007?
- Disturbance and protected species understanding and applying the law in England and Wales
Summary of legal protection of European Protected Species
This information is a guide only. Please refer to the full text of the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 and as amended in 2007 
for the detail of legal requirements.
European protected animal species and their breeding sites or resting places are protected under Regulation 39. It is an offence for anyone to deliberately capture, injure or kill any such animal or to deliberately take or destroy their eggs. It is an offence to damage or destroy a breeding or resting place of such an animal. It is also an offence to have in one's possession or control, any live or dead European protected species.
The threshold above which a person will commit the offence of deliberately disturbing a wild animal of a European protected species has been raised. Now, a person will commit an offence only if he deliberately disturbs such animals in a way as to be likely significantly to affect (a) the ability of any significant groups of animals of that species to survive, breed, or rear or nurture their young, or (b) the local distribution of abundance of that species. For further advice on interpretation of the law regarding disturbance please read our guidance.
Please note that the existing offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) as amended which cover obstruction of places used for shelter or protection, disturbance and sale still apply to European protected species.
It is an offence to deliberately pick, collect, cut, uproot or destroy a wild plant of a European protected species. It is also an offence for any purpose to possess, sell or exchange such a plant.
The recent amendments to the Habitat Regulations have removed many of the defences. This includes the commonly relied upon 'incidental result defence', which previously covered acts that were the incidental result of an otherwise lawful activity and which could not reasonably have been avoided.
January 2009 Changes to the Habitats Regulations and Offshore Marine Regulations.
These changes clarifed the wording of the regulations and any effect on landowners and sea users will be minimal. For more information see the questions and answers document and for further detail see the Defra website.
Additional species added to Schedule 2 of the Regulations on 1 October 2008
Three new species were added to Schedule 2 of the Regulations:
Pool Frog - Rana lessonae,
Fisher's Estuarine Moth - Gortyna borelii lunata, and
Lesser Whirlpool Ramshorn Snail - Anisus vorticulus.
See the guidance on these species.
What changes came into force on 21 August 2007?
On 21 August 2007 an amendment to the Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) Regulations 1994 came into force. The Conservation (Natural Habitats &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 have a variety of consequences for the protection of European Protected Species and for Natural England's licensing processes.
There is detailed guidance on these changes on the Defra site:
Disturbance and protected species understanding and applying the law in England and Wales
Following the 2007 amendments a document was launched by Natural England to give further guidance on disturbance. Disturbance and protected species: understanding and applying the law in England and Wales .