Wildlife and Natural Environment Bill

Northern Ireland Environmental Link

4 February 2010

Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) is the networking and forum body for non-statutory organisations concerned with the environment of Northern Ireland. Its 58 Full Members represent over 90,000 individuals, 262 subsidiary groups, have an annual turnover of £70 million and manage over 314,000 acres of land. Members are involved in environmental issues of all types and at all levels from the local community to the global environment. NIEL brings together a wide range of knowledge, experience and expertise which can be used to help develop policy, practice and implementation across a wide range of environmental fields.

These comments are agreed by Members, but some members may be providing independent comments as well. If you would like to discuss these comments further we would be delighted to do so.

Prof Sue Christie, Director 
Northern Ireland Environment Link 
89 Loopland Drive 
Belfast , BT6 9DW   
P: 028 9045 5770 
E: Sue@nienvironmentlink.org   
W: www.nienvironmentlink.org

Northern Ireland Environment Link is a Company limited by guarantee No NI034988 and a Charity registered with Inland Revenue No XR19598

Introduction

Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL) responded in some detail in June 2008 to the publication of the consultation paper as part of the review of the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985. We believe that biodiversity in Northern Ireland requires better protection and management. This was highlighted in the State of the Environment Report (DOE, April 2008), which detailed a worrying picture of continued decline in biodiversity in Northern Ireland. It notes that in 2004 over 50% of Northern Ireland’s priority species were classed as declining.

In this response to the draft Bill we consider further some of the Clauses and Schedules in order to further improve the Bill so that Northern Ireland’s wildlife can be properly protected and to help bring the legislation in Northern Ireland into line with that in England and Scotland and to help Northern Ireland meet its obligations under the European Habitats and Species Directive.

Responses to Clauses and Schedules

• We welcome Clauses 1, 2 and 3 establishing a new Duty on government and all public bodies to further the conservation of biodiversity when undertaking their functions. However, it is not clear what guidance will be provided to public bodies and what resources will be available to assist in compliance and to ensure that they will comply. There should be a standard format report that public bodies must complete annually to declare that they have met this Biodiversity Duty and they should be required to submit the completed report to the Department of the Environment. Clause 2.4 in the earlier draft of the Order included the requirement for the Department to publish a report on the Biodiversity Strategy every three years. This seems to have been changed to ‘periodic reports about implementation of the strategy’ in the latest version of the Bill and the three-yearly reporting cycle should be re-instated. The lists of species and habitats should take account of responsibilities at a European Union level.
• We feel that barn owls and swift colonies should be included under Clause 4 (Protection of nests of certain birds). We welcome the proposal to make it an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb or harass basking sharks (Clause 9) but seals, cetaceans and turtles should also be included.
• Clauses 5 and 6 extend the scope of existing offences such as reckless behaviour that causes harm to wildlife. Although the Bill strengthens controls on the use of snares with a requirement for regular daily inspection of snares, this is still inadequate and should be changed to a 12-hour inspection requirement. If the use of snares is to be allowed it must only be done under strict licensing. However, since enforcement would still be problematic and since there is no good reason for anyone to possess or use snares, we believe that the possession of snares should be made an offence. This is the only action that would be simple to enforce and would give adequate protection to wildlife (including non-target species), domesticated animals and agricultural livestock.
• Clause 22 will give the courts powers to impose custodial sentences for serious offences and this is a welcome and necessary change. Penalties for wildlife crime have been completely inadequate and steps are needed to ensure that genuinely punitive fines and custodial sentences will be imposed as appropriate. It is only through this that wildlife crime will become truly unacceptable. Fines must be punitive in order to act as a deterrent. There is a need to educate the judiciary and adequate resources will be required to implement the legislation.
• The Department of the Environment will have a new Duty to review the Schedules to the Wildlife (Northern Ireland) Order 1985 lists every five years. Although, in general, this is an worthwhile improvement there should also be provision for more frequent review where there is new information, especially new scientific evidence or data, showing rapid changes in the distribution of invasive alien species (Schedule 9) so that corrective action can be taken before there is irrevocable damage to wildlife habitat and the wider environment. There should therefore be provision for emergency additions or removals from the Schedules outside the five-year cycle.
• We believe that the provisions for alien species are totally inadequate. There is a need for primary legislation in relation to invasive species control. A requirement for landowners to control invasive species is necessary to protect both biodiversity and economic interests.
• It is most unfortunate that no change is proposed to the level of protection afforded to the Irish hare. Clearly, measures to protect the habitat of the Irish hare are to be applauded but the only satisfactory outcome is to give the Irish hare the same level of protection as other native animals such as the red squirrel. The sooner this is done the better and there is no excuse for unnecessary delay. The proposed review of protection of the Irish hare is therefore unsatisfactory.
• The amendments to Part 4 of the Environment (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 are a welcome, if rather belated, change. The new provisions in Clauses 27 to 30 to protect ASSIs from damage are a necessary new development. However, there is still some concern regarding how these new powers will be carried out in practice and the resources that will be allocated to them. We are concerned that financial cuts may limit the number of enforcement officers in the Department of the Environment and there seems to be no plan to give the PSNI adequate resources to deal effectively with wildlife crime. The PSNI currently has only one wildlife officer covering the whole of Northern Ireland. There is also a need to integrate wildlife crime with all other environmental crime in the NIEA’s Environmental Crime Unit.
• Legislative protection for Sites of Local Nature Conservation Importance (SLNCIs) should be included. These sites are of major local importance and will contribute substantially to halting the loss of biodiversity and assist in the implementation of the The Conservation (Nature Habitats, etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1995 by protecting landscape features that are essential for the migration, dispersal and genetic exchange of wild species. The designation of SLNCIs and associated policies should also assist in the implementation of the Council of Europe Recommendation (Rec(2004)3) “on conservation of the geological heritage and areas of special geological interest” whereby Member States, through “sustainable development and restoration should respect and reflect the natural patterns and processes: the geology, the geomorphology and the soils.” The identification and designation of SLNCIs in development plans does not and will not ensure their protection.
• Protection for priority habitats on non-designated sites has not been addressed in the legislation. The loss of biodiversity in the wider countryside is a significant issue that must be addressed.

We agree that the changes currently proposed will have some positive impact on the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of our wildlife, but the additional measures that we have specified above are also required to make the Bill fit for purpose. Wildlife crime continues to be a major problem in Northern Ireland and the changes that we suggest are necessary for the effective, practical and timely solution of this problem.