The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (Variation of Schedules 5 and 8) (England and Wales) Order 2011

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order, which extends to England and Wales, varies Schedules 5 and 8 to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. Schedule 5 lists animals protected under section 9 of that Act, and Schedule 8 lists plants protected under section 13 of that Act.

Article 2 amends Schedule 5 (animals which are protected) by—

(a) adding four new animals and conferring limited protection on these animals;

(b) extending the protection afforded to two animals, and decreasing the level of protection afforded to two animals; and

(c) removing two existing entries from protection.

The amendment relating to “Shark, Angel” removes the exclusion from the protection afforded to the Angel Shark in respect of the excluded waters (the part of the territorial waters adjacent to England and Wales which is more than 6 nautical miles from the baselines from which the breadth of those waters are measured), and thus extends the protection afforded to the Angel Shark throughout the territorial waters adjacent to England and Wales.

Article 3 amends Schedule 8 (plants which are protected) by—

(a) adding two new plant entries, conferring general protection on one plant type and limited protection on the other; and

(b) removing four existing entries from protection.

A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/wildlife-act/100127-wildlife-act-condoc-ia.pdf.