Species
JNCC has an important UK co-ordination role in the provision of
advice on species conservation. Advice is delivered mainly through
inter-agency groups made up of specialists from Natural England,
Scottish Natural Heritage, the Countryside Council for Wales, and
the Northern Ireland Environment Agency.
We retain an important statutory role in relation to some
aspects of UK species conservation. This includes giving advice on
UK policy and legislation regarding species, setting up and
supporting surveillance and monitoring schemes to assess
and report on the changing status of species and carrying out
quality assurance assessments of Red Lists, which record species at
risk. This page covers land and freshwater species. Find
out about marine species here.
Current Topics of Interest
Phytophthora
Three invasive non-native species of the plant-damaging water
mould, Phytophthora, have recently been discovered in the
UK, with the potential to devastate heathland sites. To date most
wild infections have been on bilberry and rhododendron. Find out more
>>>
Species Status
JNCC has collated information on species
status and designations, and you can download the list as a
spreadsheet.
We do not commission the production of species Red Lists, but do
play a quality assurance role. That involves making
sure that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
Red List criteria for assessing extinction threat are applied
appropriately to draft lists that are produced by specialist
societies and non-governmental organisations. Those that meet
the standard are endorsed and published by JNCC. For example,
we have just published The Butterfly Red List for Great Britain (2010)
by Fox, Warren and Brereton. It assesses all 62 resident and
regularly breeding butterflies against the IUCN criteria and
replaces assessments published in 1987 and 1997. The report
illustrates the serious extinction risk facing butterflies in Great
Britain.
Quinquennial Review
Every five years the statutory nature conservation agencies
(Natural England, Countryside Council for Wales and Scottish
Natural Heritage) working together through JNCC are required to
review the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981’s Schedules 5
and 8. They then make recommendations to the Secretary of
State and Ministers for the Environment based on their review.
Schedule 5 lists animals (other than birds) that are specially
protected and Schedule 8 lists plants that are specially protected.
JNCC is also responsible for the provision of advice on additions
to Schedule 9 (non-native species) of the Act.
Link: The Fifth Quinquennial Review of Schedules 5
and 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981
Reducing disturbance to wildfowl during severe winter
weather
The Wildlife and Countryside Act contains a provision to suspend
the shooting of wildfowl during severe winter weather. JNCC
operates a national alerting system that identifies periods of
severe weather and puts in place a temporary ban on shooting and
other disturbances. Long spells of cold weather 
are stressful for over-wintering waterbirds, reducing feeding
opportunities and increasing energy demands. As a result normally
benign levels of disturbance can cause harm. For that reason
shooting organisations co-operate with conservation organisations
to minimise disturbance.
Find out more >>>
Avian influenza
In June 2007 a series of outbreaks of a highly virulent
form of avian influenza (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza - HPAI -
form H5N1) was reported in Europe and later in the UK. Information
from long-term schemes that monitor wild birds, including those
supported by JNCC, have played a crucial in formulating advice to
Government.
For further information on avian influenze, including a
Position statement on avian influenza
issued by JNCC on behalf of the country conservation agencies.