What is the effectiveness of the wildlife and countryside act 1981?
Answer:
Judging by the abysmal response that the forum has given you in the last 2 days, (zero) ..... Bugger All effectiveness or interest.
Anyway good luck. Hope someone can respond with an intelligent answer.
The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (WCA) is the main nature conservation legislation in Britain (there is similar legislation in Northern Ireland).
The WCA did a lot of things... Here is a sample of some of the most important ones:
Protected species. It brought legislation up to date for protected species: birds, other animals and plants. Does not cover badgers, which have their own legislation.
Introduced species. It made it illegal to release any non-native animal, and also any species (animal or plant) on a list of problem species.
Protected wildlife (and geological) land: Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). These were established under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (NPAC), as the very best areas of countryside for wildlife and geology.
However, before 1981 SSSIs were only protected against things requiring planning permission. Agricultural and forestry operations could be done freely by landowners, and many SSSIs were lost or damaged. The WCA required owners to consult over these operations, and so many of the damaging activities could be avoided. It still allowed them to neglect SSSIs, and many were still damaged this way.
In 2000 the WCA was amended and strengthened by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW). After amendment the WCA now makes it even harder for owners to carry out deliberate damage and prevents neglect of SSSIs.
The WCA also did lots of things to do with footpaths and other countryside access, but this is not my area.
Overall it allowed better protection of a lot of the rarer animals and plants, and much better protection of the very best areas of natural habitat.
It does not deal well with marine conservation, nor with habitats outside protected areas.
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