Planning considerations about biodiversity and wildlife

Protected species

Protected species benefit from the strictest legal protection and include:

  • great crested newts
  • otters
  • dormice
  • bats .

These species are known as European Protected Species (EPS) and they are protected by the EU Habitats Directive as well as the above legislation.

Also protected to a lesser extent under UK domestic law (NERC Act and Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981) are:

  • water voles
  • badgers
  • reptiles
  • all wild birds
  • invertebrates
  • certain rare plants.

You can check if protected species are recorded in the area at the Hertfordshire Environmental Records Centre.