Legislation and otters

Otters are listed in Schedules 5 and 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

This makes it an offence to:

• kill or injure an otter
• to disturb it in its place of shelter or damage, or
• destroy or obstruct access to its place of shelter

It is also covered by the Conservation (Natural Habitats, & c.) (Amendment) Regulations 2007 (the Habitats Regulations) which make it an offence to:

• damage or destroy an otter shelter, whether intentionally or not, and
• to deliberately disturb an otter.

Certain actions can take place under licence, issued by Natural England or the National Assembly of Wales, which would otherwise be unlawful. Suitable mitigation measures will have to be demonstrated and an appropriate management plan put in place during the construction of any scheme.

In its leaflet Otters and Development (Green, J., Green, R. and Woods, M., Scottish Natural Heritage, Edinburgh, 1996.), Scottish Natural Heritage, Natural England’s equivalent in Scotland, requires that an area of radius 20 metres around a place of shelter should be declared out of bounds by fencing and clear marking. If it is thought to be a breeding holt, then a radius of 30 metres is required. Otters have no defined breeding season and the breeding holt is kept deliberately obscure by the female so locating one can be difficult and time consuming, especially in the summer when the vegetation is very dense.

Licences are required for checking holts or for carrying out work that may disturb otters, such as the management of trees that are known to be used as resting sites. Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) are responsible for issuing these licences in England and Wales respectively.

« back to otters