Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 - Regulators

Regulators

Regulated by: Natural England

As well as being a regulator of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Natural England acts as an advisor (to individuals, companies, government, etc.) in relation to nature conservation. Additionally Natural England helps with land management through grants, projects and information.

Legally responsible for Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and enforce law when necessary. Damage, destruction or disturbance of SSSI habitats and features can lead to the following actions by Natural England:

• information- awareness and education can stop harmful activities
• warning letters- request harmful activity to stop and request agreement for restoration
• formal investigations- collection of evidence by trained investigators following legal evidence requirements
• cautions- if prosecution is not an appropriate action then a caution is issued if necessary evidence has been collected (to have a good chance of conviction)
• prosecution- only occurs when evidence collected makes conviction reasonably certain or where prosecution is in the public interest. Natural England always try to recover costs and publicise prosecutions to the press. Specific penalties are applied, consideration of profit gained from offence is considered and often added to fines, application for a formal restoration order is made making the offender responsible for restoration of SSSI (at offender's expense).
• civil action- in most serious cases where all other options have been explored, Natural England can take civil action to claim possession of SSSIs under serious threat.

(Natural England, 2007)

Countryside Council of Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage

Similar responsibilities to Natural England, but responsible in Wales and Scotland.

Police

Within the police there are several aspects to regulating wildlife crime; intelligence, enforcement and prevention. (IEEM, 2010)

The police are responsible for enforcing part I of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, often advised by Natural England (Natural England, 2007) and will investigate wildlife offences; usually performed by Wildlife Crime Officers (WCOs).

The National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) is a law enforcement unit which helps agencies with enforcement. Wildlife crime investigations, statistics and intelligence are provided.

Environment Agency

The Environment Agency deal with reports from the public in relation to wildlife crime; under duties to prosecute environmental crimes, offences such as damage to habitats and wildlife are included. The EA work closely with the RSPB and Wildlife Crime Officers (Environmentlaw, 2010).

Local Authorities

Local authorities (e.g. Southampton City Council) are responsible for regulating public rights of way and enforcing Rights of Way legislation (Legislation.gov.uk, 2010). Issues such as obstructions and misleading signs are usually reported by members of the public and then are dealt with by the local authority (Southampton City Council, 2009).

Monitored by:

• Regulatory bodies (mentioned above).
• NGOs; the RSPB and RSPCA work with the police to prevent and identify wildlife crime (Environmentlaw, 2010)
• General Public.
• The Partnership for Action against Wildlife Crime (PAW)- a multi-agency body which encourages both statutory and NGO organisations to work together in the combat of wildlife crime (PAW, 2011).