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Licensing

Beavers are now legally protected in England – the licensing regime explained

Beaver wetlands slow, store and filter water helping to reduce downstream flooding, improve water quality, increase biodiversity, and resilience to drought and adaptation to climate change. Photo credit: Giles Wagstaff, Natural England

By Stephanie Bird-Halton - Director of National Delivery Protection of beavers and why it’s important On 1 October 2022 the legislation changed to protect wild-living beavers in England. Beavers are now listed in Schedule 2 of the Conservation of Habitats …

More than 100 hen harriers fledge in England for the first time in over 100 years.

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Hen Harriers, Licensing, Protected sites and species, Wildlife
Satellite tagged hen harrier in flight

By: John Holmes, NE Strategy Director This year has seen another encouraging increase in the breeding population of one of our rarest birds of prey. Natural England and partners are pleased to report that a total of 49 hen harrier …

Biodiversity Metric Milestone - Defra consultation on the biodiversity metric

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Licensing, Natural England, Uncategorized

The Secretary of State has now launched an 8-week consultation on the Biodiversity Metric to be used for the purpose of calculating biodiversity net gain as required under the 2021 Environment Act[1]. The Biodiversity Metric is a key tool that …

Conservation comes full circle - Natural England licenses translocation of red kites to aid conservation efforts in Spain.

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Biodiversity, Licensing, Protected sites and species, Wildlife
Red kites in aviaries in Spain ahead of release

By John Holmes, Operations Director The most successful species reintroduction to England ever - the red kite - has come full circle this year, with Natural England licensing the translocation of red kites back to Spain to help bolster low …

Licence issued for fifth year of hen harrier brood management trial

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Hen Harriers, Licensing, Wildlife
Hen harrier in flight

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that Natural England is involved in several initiatives under the Hen Harrier Action Plan, one of which is the brood management trial. Natural England is committed to protecting and conserving hen harriers, …

Hen harrier monitoring, and the actions taken when a tagged bird is lost

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Licensing, Protected sites and species, Science and evidence, Wildlife
Juvenile male hen harrier

Alongside our partners, Natural England is involved in a number of initiatives to support the recovery of hen harriers in England, including satellite tracking birds to investigate patterns of dispersal and survival. In this blog, we will share the latest …

Urban gull licensing: a review of our organisational licence trial and plans for 2022

Posted by: , Posted on: - Categories: Licensing, Wildlife
A gull is stood on a rock with the ocean in the background.

The UK is home to a significant proportion of the world’s herring and lesser black-backed gull populations. Like all birds, they are protected by law and can only be controlled in England with a licence issued by Natural England. While …