Habitats and Birds Task and Finish Group

Chair: Kate Jennings, RSPB
Vice Chair: Carol Day, WWF-UK
Secretary: Kate Hand

The Habitats and Birds Regulations Task and Finish Group was set up to respond to the review of the implementation of the Habitats and Birds Directives.

Update from the group: April 2012

Review published

The Report of the Habitats and Wild Birds Implementation Review was published by Defra on 22 March. This reiterated the Government’s commitment to ‘ensuring that England’s most vulnerable habitats and species are protected and that development is carried out in a sustainable manner’. It set up two new groups, the Major Infrastructure and Environment Unit and the Multi Stakeholder Infrastructure and Habitats Group. There will be new guidance on a number of topics, a website which brings all the relevant information together, standards for evidence required, a new Marine Evidence Group, improvements to surveillance and also support for ecological expertise.

Link’s Habitats and Birds Task and Finish Group will be considering whether and where it can play a useful role in the implementation of these proposals.