The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 is the main law protecting wild birds, many wild animals and plants, and the best wildlife sites in Great Britain. It received Royal Assent on 30 October 1981 and replaced the Protection of Birds Acts 1954 to 1967 and the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act 1975. It has been amended many times since, so the version that matters is the Act "as amended", which legislation.gov.uk keeps up to date. This summary covers the law in England and Wales, with the main Scottish differences noted. It does not apply in Northern Ireland, which has its own wildlife legislation.
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 summary: the four parts
The Act is split into four parts and a long run of schedules. The parts set out the rules; the schedules list the species and procedures the rules apply to. Its long title sums up the scope: to prohibit certain methods of killing or taking wild animals, amend the law on the protection of certain mammals, restrict the introduction of certain animals and plants, amend the law on nature conservation, the countryside and National Parks, make provision about the Countryside Commission, and amend the law on public rights of way.
| Part | What it covers | Key sections |
|---|---|---|
| Part I: Wildlife | Wild birds, their nests and eggs; protected animals and plants; banned killing methods; invasive non-native species; licences and penalties | Sections 1 to 27ZA |
| Part II: Nature conservation, countryside and National Parks | Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), limestone pavements, National Parks and the countryside bodies | Sections 27A to 52 |
| Part III: Public rights of way | Councils' duty to keep the definitive map and statement of footpaths and bridleways under review | Sections 53 to 66 |
| Part IV: Miscellaneous and general | Commencement, extent and other general provisions | Sections 66A to 74 |
Wild birds and nesting birds (section 1)
Section 1 protects every wild bird, not just rare ones. In England and Wales it is an offence to intentionally:
- kill, injure or take any wild bird;
- take, damage or destroy the nest of any wild bird while that nest is in use or being built;
- take or destroy the egg of any wild bird;
- take, damage or destroy the nest of a bird on Schedule ZA1 at any time, even when it is empty.
It is also an offence to possess a live or dead wild bird, or an egg, unless it was lawfully taken. Birds on Schedule 1 get extra protection: it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb them while they are building a nest or are in, on or near a nest with eggs or young, or to disturb their dependent young.
Is there a legal nesting season?
No. The Act does not set dates. A nest is protected whenever it is in use or being built, so a blackbird nesting in a hedge in October is protected just as much as one in May. In practice most nesting happens in spring and summer, which is why GOV.UK advises timing work to avoid the breeding season. On farmland there is a separate, dated rule: the hedgerow management rules ban cutting or trimming covered hedgerows from 1 March to 31 August. Those rules exclude garden hedges, but the wild bird law in the Act still applies to every hedge, all year.
What each schedule of the Act covers
Most questions about the Act are really questions about a schedule. These are the schedules in force in England and Wales, in the order they appear in the Act.
| Schedule | What it lists | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule ZA1 | Birds that re-use their nests: golden eagle, white-tailed eagle and osprey. Their nests are protected even when not in use | Section 1(1)(aa) |
| Schedule 1 | Birds protected by special penalties, such as barn owl, kingfisher, red kite, peregrine, black redstart, fieldfare and redwing. Part I at all times; Part II during the close season | Section 1(5) |
| Schedule 2 | Birds that may be killed or taken, such as some ducks, geese and game birds, outside their close season | Section 2 |
| Schedule 3 | Birds that may be sold, alive if ringed and bred in captivity, or dead | Section 6 |
| Schedule 4 | Birds that must be registered and ringed if kept in captivity, such as falcons, true hawks and osprey | Section 7 |
| Schedule 5 | Protected animals, including bats, red squirrel, otter, great crested newt, hazel dormouse, water vole, some butterflies and all native reptiles | Section 9 |
| Schedule 6 | Animals that may not be killed or taken by certain methods, such as traps, snares, poison or lights. Includes badger, bats, hedgehog, otter and shrews | Section 11 |
| Schedule 6ZA | Animals that may not be trapped or snared: badger, beaver, pine marten, otter and stoat | Section 11(2) |
| Schedule 7 | Amendments to older Acts on the night shooting of hares and rabbits | Section 12 |
| Schedule 8 | Protected plants, fungi and lichens, such as ghost orchid. Bluebell is listed for sale only | Section 13 |
| Schedule 9 | Invasive non-native animals (Part I, such as grey squirrel and American mink) and plants (Part II) | Section 14 |
Schedules A1, 1A, 5A and 6A apply in Scotland only. Schedules 9A and 9B deal with species control agreements and invasive species licences, and Schedules 10 to 17 cover procedure, amendments and repeals.
Wildlife and Countryside Act Schedule 5: protected animals (section 9)
Section 9 makes it an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take a Schedule 5 animal, to possess or sell one, and to intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to the place it uses for shelter, or disturb it while it is there. The catch is that many entries only carry part of that protection. Each line of Schedule 5 says which subsections apply, so it pays to read the entry, not just the species name.
| Species (examples) | What section 9 protects in England and Wales |
|---|---|
| Red squirrel, pine marten, water vole | The full set: killing, injuring, taking, shelters, disturbance and sale. Water voles gained full protection in England and Wales in 2008; in Scotland only their shelters are covered |
| Bats, great crested newt, hazel dormouse, otter, natterjack toad | Disturbance in a shelter, obstructing access to it, and sale. Killing, injuring and roost damage are covered by the 2017 Habitats Regulations |
| Adder, grass snake, common lizard, slow-worm | Intentional killing and injuring, and sale |
| Common frog, common toad | Sale only |
That split exists because the strictest protection for bats, great crested newts, hazel dormice and otters now sits in a different law, covered below. You can see how these species fit with badgers, nesting birds and the rest in our full list of protected species in the UK.
Bats under the Wildlife and Countryside Act
All UK bats are on Schedule 5, as horseshoe bats and typical bats (all species), but only for section 9(4)(b), 9(4)(c) and 9(5). So under the 1981 Act it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly disturb a bat while it is in a roost, to obstruct access to a roost, or to sell or advertise a bat. The other half of why bats are protected in the UK is the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, which treat every bat species as a European protected species.
| Law | Main bat offences | Does intent matter? |
|---|---|---|
| Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, section 9 | Disturbing a bat in a roost; obstructing access to a roost; possessing or selling a bat | Intentional or reckless |
| Habitats Regulations 2017, regulation 43 | Deliberately capturing, injuring, killing or disturbing a bat; damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place | Roost damage is an offence even if it was not deliberate, and even when no bats are present |
The Act has a narrow exception for work inside a dwelling house, but for bats it only covers the living area. Anywhere else in a house, such as a loft or roof void, you can only rely on it if you first told Natural England (Natural Resources Wales in Wales) what you planned and gave them reasonable time to advise. The 2017 Regulations apply regardless. When harm to bats cannot be avoided, the route is a mitigation licence from Natural England under regulation 55, which in England also covers the matching offences in the 1981 Act.
Protected plants (section 13 and Schedule 8)
Section 13 makes it an offence to intentionally pick, uproot or destroy any wild plant on Schedule 8, or to sell one. It goes further than many people realise: anyone who is not an authorised person, broadly the owner or occupier of the land or someone with their permission, commits an offence by intentionally uprooting any wild plant at all, listed or not. Picking a few common wildflowers is not an offence; digging them up is.
Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Schedule 9: invasive non-native species (section 14)
Section 14 makes it an offence to release or allow to escape into the wild any animal on Part I of Schedule 9, or any animal not ordinarily resident in Great Britain, and to plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild any plant on Part II. Part II includes Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam, Rhododendron ponticum and five cotoneaster species, among others. Dumping garden waste or soil that contains them is the usual way people fall foul of it. It is a defence to show you took all reasonable steps and due diligence to avoid the offence.
Having a listed plant in your garden is not itself an offence, but letting it spread into the wild can be. What to do about the common ones is set out in our guide to invasive non-native plants and the law.
Part II: Sites of Special Scientific Interest
Part II is where SSSIs come from. In England, Natural England must notify the council, every owner and occupier, and the Secretary of State when it considers land of special interest for its wildlife, geology or landform. The notification lists "operations likely to damage" the site. Under section 28E an owner or occupier must not carry out a listed operation without first giving Natural England notice and getting its consent, unless it is covered by a management agreement or scheme.
| Check the land | All SSSIs in England are on the local land charges register, and GOV.UK points to the MAGIC map to check boundaries. |
|---|---|
| Before work | Check the site's list of operations needing consent and ask Natural England first. |
| Planning permission | Counts as a reasonable excuse for an operation, but where both are needed you must have planning permission and any consent from a public body. |
| Damage | Intentionally or recklessly damaging an SSSI's special features, knowing it is an SSSI, carries an unlimited fine. Doing so without that knowledge carries a fine of up to level 4 (£2,500). |
Part II also covers limestone pavements and National Parks. In Scotland, SSSIs have been governed by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 since it replaced section 28 there.
Part III: public rights of way
Part III requires each surveying authority, usually the county or unitary council, to keep its definitive map and statement of public footpaths, bridleways and byways under continuous review, and sets out how they are changed by order. Part III does not extend to Scotland.
Key amendments: the CROW Act 2000 and NERC Act 2006
| Amending law | What it changed in the 1981 Act |
|---|---|
| Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 | Added "recklessly" to the Schedule 1 bird disturbance offence and the section 9(4) shelter offences; replaced the penalties with up to six months in prison; replaced section 28 with the modern SSSI regime in sections 28 to 28R |
| Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 | Created Natural England, which took over the Act's functions in England; added section 1(1)(aa) and Schedule ZA1 so eagle and osprey nests are protected year-round |
| Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 | Rewrote section 9(4) for England and Wales and narrowed the Schedule 5 entries for European protected species such as bats, which the Habitats Regulations now cover |
| Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019 | Linked section 14 to the separate regime for invasive species of special concern |
Scotland has amended its own version of the Act heavily, most recently through the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, the Animals and Wildlife (Penalties, Protections and Powers) (Scotland) Act 2020 and the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024. Its species lists, licensing and penalties now differ from those in England and Wales.
Penalties under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
| Offence | England and Wales | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Birds and Schedule 5 animals (sections 1 and 9) and protected plants (section 13) | Up to six months in prison, an unlimited fine, or both. The fine applies to each bird, nest, egg, animal or plant | Sections 1 and 9(1) and (4): up to 12 months and £40,000 on summary conviction, or up to five years on indictment |
| Invasive species (section 14) | Up to six months and an unlimited fine in the magistrates' court; up to two years and an unlimited fine in the Crown Court | Up to 12 months and £40,000, or five years on indictment |
| Damaging an SSSI knowingly (section 28P(6)) | Unlimited fine | Covered by the Nature Conservation (Scotland) Act 2004 |
The section 21 wording still says "level 5 on the standard scale", but level 5 fines for offences committed since 12 March 2015 are unlimited under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. GOV.UK states the same: an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison for each offence. The court must also order the forfeiture of any bird, nest, egg, animal or plant involved.
What the Act means for builders, tree work and hedge cutting
The Act includes a defence where harm was "the incidental result of a lawful operation and could not reasonably have been avoided". Planning permission does not switch the law off, and GOV.UK is clear that there are no licences to allow development to harm wild birds: you rely on avoiding harm and on the legal exemptions. That defence is much harder to use if the harm was foreseeable, so plan for it.
| Building, demolition, roofing | Check for nesting birds before work starts and avoid the breeding season where you can. If the work touches a roof, loft or older building, your council may want a bat survey before it decides the application. |
|---|---|
| Tree work | Check trees for active nests and for cracks, holes or loose bark that bats could use. Cutting down a mature tree or removing branches is on GOV.UK's list of activities that can harm bats. |
| Garden hedge cutting | No dates in law, but an active nest must not be damaged. Look carefully before trimming in spring and summer, and leave any section with a nest until the young have fledged. |
| Farm hedges | No cutting or trimming covered hedgerows from 1 March to 31 August under the hedgerow management rules, and the Act still applies outside those dates. |
| Clearing ground | Don't dump soil or green waste containing Schedule 9 plants anywhere it could grow in the wild, and remember native reptiles are protected from being killed or injured. |
| If protected species are found | Stop, take advice from an ecologist and, if harm can't be avoided, wait for the right licence. |
For a planning application, the usual first step is a preliminary ecological appraisal, which checks a site for nesting birds, bats, reptiles, great crested newts and other protected species at once. For a roof, loft or older building, the council may ask for a bat survey on its own.
