1. This Order may be cited as the Nature Conservation and Amenity Lands (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 and shall come into operation on the expiration of the period of two months from the day on which it is made.
2.—(1) The [1954 c. 33 (N.I.)] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to a Measure of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In this Order—
“Committee for Nature Conservation” means the committee established under Article 5;
“the Department” means the Department of the Environment;
“derelict site” means land, which the Department after consultation with the district council within whose district the land is situated, considers as detracting from the amenity of the area by reason of any unsightly, dilapidated or neglected structure or works or unsightly vegetation, refuse or waste material on the land;
“local or public authority” includes any authority or body specified in paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the[F1 Financial Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 1983] as an authority or body to whom government loans may be made by the Department of Finance and Personnel under[F1 Article 8 of that Order];
“National Park” means an area designated as a National Park under Article 12;
“nature conservation” means the conservation of flora, fauna and geological and physiographical features;
“nature reserve” means any area reserved, managed and used for the purpose of—
conserving flora, fauna or features of geological, physiographical or other scientific or special interest therein; or
providing, under suitable conditions and control, special opportunities for the study of, and research into, matters relating to flora and fauna and the physical conditions in which they live, or for the study of features of geological, physiographical or other scientific or special interest therein;
or for both of those purposes;
“owner”, in relation to any land, means any person (other than a mortgagee not in possession) who is the holder of or who is for the time being entitled to sell or otherwise dispose of the fee simple (including a fee farm grant) of the land or any person entitled to possession of the land by virtue of any estate in the land other than a mere licence;
“statutory provision” has the meaning given in section 1(f) of the [1954 c. 33 (N.I.)] Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;
“Ulster Countryside Committee” means the committee referred to in Article 11;
“voluntary body” means any body of persons, whether corporate or unincorporate carrying on or proposing to carry on an undertaking otherwise than for profit.
(3) Nothing in this Order shall make unlawful anything done under the [1981 NI 22] Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.