Natural England is the government’s advisor on the natural environment. It is an Executive Non-departmental Public Body responsible to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. They claim to have the purpose of protecting and improving England’s natural environment and encouraging people to enjoy and get involved in their surroundings.
Natural England was established on 1 October 2006 by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, . It was formed by the amalgamation of three founder bodies:
- Countryside Agency, the landscape, access and recreation elements
- English Nature
- Rural Development Service, the environmental land management functions of Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
Natural England are of interest to us in that they issue General licences which enable people to carry out activities affecting protected species that would otherwise be unlawful, but which are justified in certain circumstances, without the need to apply for a personal licence.
They are seen by many in the animal welfare/rescue community as being a pro-blood sports Government quango- divisive and purely class driven in their lack of scientific evidence concerning the culling of many “native” and “non-native” species.