Background

There are four main categories of protection for species:

1. •

   habitat conservation, by designating key sites

2. •

   protection for individual animals and plants, regardless of whether or not they are in a designated area

3. •

   integrated nature conservation, using general policies that are conducive to nature conservation for example agricultural and forestry policy and

4. •

   incidental protection, ie taking advantage of general legal powers to protect nature conservation interests

A World Wildlife Fund report, Living Planet Report 2022, revealed that global wildlife populations have declined by 69% on average since 1970 around the world, while freshwater species populations have seen the biggest decline overall, with a global decline of 83%. For more information, see: LNB News 14/10/2022 15.

The nature conservation agency in England is Natural England (NE) and in Wales nature conservation is the responsibility of Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 (NERCA 2006) NE can enter into an agreement with a conservation body or any other body and delegate functions to that body including monitoring and research. The Joint Nature Conservation