Legislation and great crested newts

The great crested newt is listed on Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside 1981 Act (amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000), and is therefore subject to the provisions of Section 9, which make it an offence to:

• intentionally kill, injure or take a great crested newt
• intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to any structure or place used for shelter or protection by a great crested newt
• intentionally or recklessly disturb a great crested newt while it is occupying a structure or place which it uses for that purpose

Section 10 of the Act provides defences if great crested newts are disturbed, injured or killed in a way which can be proved to be an incidental result of an otherwise lawful operation and could not reasonably have been avoided. To rely on this defence, all reasonable precautions must have been taken to prevent these operations affecting great crested newts and/or their places of shelter.

Great crested newts are also included in Annex II and Annex IV of EC Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of the Wild Fauna and Flora (the Habitats Directive 1992), implemented in Britain by the Conservation (Natural Habitats & c.) Regulations 1994. Strict protection is outlined in Article 12, achieved through inclusion on Schedule 2 of the Regulations. Regulation 39 makes it an offence to: 

• deliberately capture or kill a great crested newt
• deliberately disturb a great crested newt
• deliberately take or destroy the eggs of a great crested newt
• damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of a great crested newt.

The legislation applies to all life stages of great crested newts. Furthermore this species is a Priority Species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

It is possible to apply for a licence from Natural England to permit otherwise unlawful activities; these can only be granted for certain purposes. A licence may be granted for surveys (which involve disturbance) of potential development sites. In order to obtain a licence to allow the capture of newts, destruction of breeding sites, etc, in advance of any otherwise legitimate development which further impacts on the status of great crested newts, it has to be clearly demonstrated that the damage will be adequately mitigated. Current Natural England advice is that there should be no net loss in local great crested newt status (including factors such as population size, viability and connectivity). If it is unavoidable that development will affect these factors, the mitigation should aim to maintain a population of equivalent status on or near the original site, and should address links to adjacent (indirectly affected) populations where present.

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