Environmental Protection

from I'd Rather Be In Deeping April 2022

Wedding Trends

Image: Three Hoots Photography

Protect the Environment? Yes that’s you! says David Denman

The wonderful wealth of wildlife in this country is matched only by the wealth of legal protection that law-makers have devised to protect it over many decades. There is a raft of legislation all aimed at protecting species and habitats that are declining or are subject to threats of damage or loss.

Now you may be thinking that an understanding of wildlife law is really something for farmers and landowners who encounter rare and amazing wildlife. However, as many species of wildlife are happy to live in our houses and grow in our gardens, the legislation that protects them is relevant to us as well!

We all know that birds are protected. British birds have been protected since 1954. A wide range of protections depend on the species but the bottom line is that all birds, their nests and eggs are protected by law at all times. Rare birds (the so-called Schedule 1 species) such as golden eagles have the highest levels of protection and cannot be disturbed whilst they are building or using their nest. However, Schedule 1 also lists more frequently encountered birds such as barn owls, which we have here in the Deepings, and Black Redstarts which nest in urban Peterborough.

So what happens when a garden bird starts to nest in a bush you intend to cut down? You will need to leave the bush well alone until the brood has fledged then you can remove the bush. How about when you see a bird starting to build a nest in another bush that you intend to cut down – you will need to leave the bird to complete building its nest until the young are fledged. Care must be taken as many of our common birds have two broods a year and some even have three! The gap between the young flying the nest and the nest being used for the second brood can be very short indeed. The best approach, as with most wildlife issues, is to plan ahead and leave the bush in place until the winter when the bush can be removed safely, which is kinder to the bird and the local bird population overall.

Trees themselves are protected if they are in a conservation area or if they are subject to a tree protection order (TPO). If you are a tenant then the landlord’s permission should be sought first. Remember if you fell a tree in your garden and this causes injury or damage to a neighbour then this is your liability. Felling will have implications for wildlife and people and except where dangerous should be a last resort but other interventions such as pollarding and pruning can remove dangerous hanging branches or reduce the weight or impact of a tree without actually killing it. It is always best to seek the advice of an accredited tree surgeon or consultant.

Bats are another well-protected group. They like houses and can roost in lofts, soffit boxes and behind hanging tiles. Many people are totally unaware that they are sharing their house with a colony of bats. All species of bats and their roost sites and their tiny entrance points are protected by law and you need to take advice before you work in, or near, a known bat roost.

One of the intricacies of bat law is that roost sites are protected even when the bats are not in residence. It is therefore important that everyone involved in construction, maintenance or pest control should know what bat signs to look out for (bats leave crumbly dry droppings) and what to do if they find bats during work. All bats eat insects, usually caught when flying at night, and as insects become less numerous bats need all the protection they can get, especially when you consider that they only have one baby a year.

Many unusual species are also fully protected by law including several rare and vulnerable butterflies and dragonflies. Other stranger creatures are also protected, including the rare Medicinal Leech and the spectacular Stag Beetle. A large number of rare and localised fungi and lichen are also protected, several without English names which can only be identified by expert ecologists. And what about rare plants, including orchids? Well, there is a full list of Britain’s rarest and most threatened plants species (known as Schedule 8 species) which receive full protection. At the other end of the spectrum, animals and plants which are invasive and present a threat to native wildlife (i.e. Japanese Knotweed and American Crayfish) are also listed and the legislation is aimed at preventing their spread into the wild.

And what about the badgers? Well, they have a piece of legislation all to themselves (Protection of Badgers Act 1992) and this is different from other wildlife legislation in that it protects the badger and its sett, not because they are rare or threatened, but to outlaw badger baiting and to prevent cruel ill treatment of badgers.

We have local links with wildlife law. The best place to learn about wildlife law is the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (www.jncc.gov.uk)) which is based in Peterborough! It is a public body which, amongst many other ecological duties, undertakes a review of which species should be protected or should no longer be protected every five years in a process called the Quinquennial Review. And for trees the Woodland Trust (www.woodland trust.org.uk) based in Grantham provides valuable information. So just like ecology, which never stands still, neither does the law that protects it.