Water Vole receives increased legal protection
The water vole, the UK’s fastest declining native mammal, has been given a survival boost with news that the species is to receive extra protection.
Defra has announced that from 6 April the list of species protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act will be extended to include the water vole and a number of other species.
Fron 6 April, it will be an offence to intentionally kill or injure water voles or to take them from the wild.
It is in all our interests that England’s valuable wildlife is protected and a lot of work has been done to ensure that the list of species being protected is comprehensive,’ said Minister of Biodiversity Joan Ruddock.
Alastair Driver, the UK Water Vole Species Action Plan Group chair who is also the Environment Agency’s national conservation manager, said the extra protection was 'great news’ for water vole conservation. Water vole populations have declined by 90 per cent since 1990 and this added protection will make a real difference to the work being done to conserve this charismatic species'.
The legislative changes serve to minimise deliberate persecution and accidental poisoning, and most importantly clarify the law for planners and developers.