Defra: Environmental Liability Directive – Consultation on options for implementing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Enclosed is JNCC's response to a consultation from Defra, based on the Environmental Liability Directive. Submitted in early 2007.
The JNCC is currently preparing
for government the draft report under Article 17 of the Habitats
Directive on the implementation of the Directive in the UK. This
will include an assessment of the conservation status of all the
habitats and species listed in the Annexes to the Directive that
are relevant to the UK. The assessment for the 162 habitats and
species will be completed later this year and placed on the JNCC
website.
The JNCC was actively engaged
with the European Commission and other Member States in the
interpretation and application of the concept of conservation
status, which resulted in the reporting framework document approved
by the EC Habitats Committee and the supplementary guidance and
notes produced by the Commission. The definition of conservation
status contained in Article 2.4 of the Environmental Liability
Directive is the same as that in Article 1 of the Habitats
Directive.
The assessment of conservation
status of habitats and species addresses status within the UK and
not just the contribution made by the network of Special Areas of
Conservation (SACs) designated under the terms of the Directive. In
any event SACs are only designated for habitats and species listed
in Annexes I and II of the Directive and not for those species
listed in Annexes IV and V. (Note that Annex V species are not
included in the definition of protected species for the purposes of
the Environmental Liability Directive).
In addition, the contribution
made by the network of SACs to securing the conservation status of
the listed habitats and species varies considerably depending on
the proportion of the total habitat extent or species population
that is found within sites. For example, the network makes a small
contribution to the conservation status of widely dispersed species
such as otter but a higher contribution for habitats such as chalk
grassland where a high percentage of the UK area is found within
SACs. Undue emphasis on the SAC network as providing the threshold
for determining biodiversity damage is therefore misleading.
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Please cite as: JNCC Consultation 0714, (2007), Defra: Environmental Liability Directive – Consultation on options for implementing in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Submission by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee