Development Proposals Affect All Plant and Animal Communities, Not Just Birds

Getting involved in planning in Scotland: Protecting other wildlife from development proposals

Development proposals affect all plant and animal communities, not just birds.

When you object to a planning application, or look to secure protection for an area as a wildlife site, consider all animals and plants found there.

Wildlife law is straightforward with respect to birds, as all wild birds are legally protected (but see Protecting birds from development to understand the limitations of this protection). With other animal groups and plants, the presence and degree of legal protection to any one species varies.

The presence of many groups of plants and animals may give additional weight to your case as their presence may give a higher degree of legal protection to the land you are interested in protecting. In fact, sometimes they can help your case more than the presence of birds.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act protects birds and their active nests, but it does not give legal protection to birds’ general habitat, or to nest sites when birds are not using them, with the exception of osprey, golden eagle and white- tailed eagle nests, which are protected year round.

In contrast, the presence of a range of other plant and animal species may afford their habitat year-round legal protection.

As a bird conservation organisation, we do not have the expertise to give detailed advice about how planning applications affect other wildlife. We recommend that you consult the

RSPB Scotland Local Planning Pack: giving nature a home near you Page 1 August 2016 relevant specialist organisation to find out what legal protection is given to the species you are interested in.

The next page gives contact details for a range of specialist organisations qualified to answer your queries.

RSPB Scotland Local Planning Pack: giving nature a home near you Page 2 August 2016 Bat Conservation Trust Fifth Floor Quadrant House 250 Kennington Lane London SE11 5RD Butterfly Conservation Scotland Tel: 0845 1300 228 Balallan House E-mail: [email protected] Allan Park www.bats.org.uk Stirling FK8 2QG Mammal Society Tel: 01786 447753 The Mammal Society E-mail: [email protected] 18 St John’s Church Road www.butterfly-conservation.org London E9 6EJ Plantlife Scotland Tel: 02380 0010981 Balallan Scotland E-mail: [email protected] Allan Park www.mammal.org.uk Stirling FK8 2QG Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Tel: 01786 478509 655A Christchurch Road E-mail: [email protected] Boscombe www.plantlife.org.uk Bournemouth Dorset Scottish Wildlife Trust BH1 4AP9 Harbourside House Tel: 01202 391319 110 Commercial Street E-mail: [email protected] Edinburgh www.arc-trust.org EH6 6NF Tel: 0131 312 7765 Buglife – the Invertebrate E-mail: [email protected] Conservation Trust www.swt.org.uk Scottish Office Balallan House Woodland Trust Scotland 24 Allan Park South Inch Business Centre Stirling Shore Road FK8 2QG Perth Tel: 01786 447504 PH2 8BW E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 01738 635544 www.buglife.org.uk E-mail: [email protected] www.woodland-trust.org.uk

RSPB Scotland Local Planning Pack: giving nature a home near you Page 3 August 2016