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Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

Please note:

All reference to 'Parts' and 'sections' are from the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011. For other versions of these Explanatory Notes, see More Resources.

  1. Introduction

  2. The Act – Background and Overview

    1. Part 1 – Defined expressions

    2. Part 2 – Wildlife under the 1981 Act

    3. Part 3 – Deer

    4. Part 4 – Other wildlife etc.

    5. Part 5 – Biodiversity

    6. Part 6 – Sites of special scientific interest

    7. Part 7 – General

    8. Schedule

  3. The Act – Commentary on Sections

    1. Part 1 – Definitions

    2. Part 2 – Wildlife under the 1981 Act

      1. Section 2 – Application of the 1981 Act to game birds

      2. Section 3 – Protection of game birds etc. and prevention of poaching

        1. Subsections (2) and (3)

        2. Subsections (4), (7) and (8)

        3. Subsection (5)

        4. Subsection (6)

      3. Section 4 – Areas of special protection for wild birds

      4. Section 5 – Sale of live or dead wild birds, their eggs etc.

      5. Section 6 – Protection of wild hares etc.

        1. Subsection (2)

          1. Protection of wild hares etc. - inserted section 10A of the 1981 Act

          2. Exceptions to s.10A - inserted section 10B of the 1981 Act

        2. Subsection (3)

        3. Subsections (4) and (5)

      6. Section 7 – Prevention of poaching: wild hares, rabbits etc.

        1. Subsection (3)

          1. Prevention of poaching: wild hares etc. - inserted section 11G of the 1981 Act

          2. Exceptions to s.11G - inserted section 11H of the 1981 Act

        2. Subsection (4)

      7. Section 8 – Sale, possession etc. of wild hares, rabbits etc. killed or taken unlawfully

        1. Sale etc. of wild hares etc. - inserted section 11I of the 1981 Act

      8. Section 9 – Wild hares, rabbits etc.: licences

      9. Section 10 – Wild hares, rabbits etc.: power to vary Schedules to the 1981 Act and prescribe close season

      10. Section 11 – Wild hares and rabbits: miscellaneous

      11. Section 12 – Single witness evidence in certain proceedings under the 1981 Act

      12. Section 13 – Snares

        1. Subsection (2)

        2. Subsection (3)

          1. Snares: training, identification numbers, tags etc. - inserted section 11A of the 1981 Act

          2. Snares: duty to inspect etc. - inserted section 11B of the 1981 Act

          3. Snares: authorisation from landowners etc. - inserted section 11C of the 1981 Act .

          4. Snares: presumption arising from identification number - inserted section 11D of the 1981 Act

          5. Snares: record keeping. - inserted section 11E of the 1981 Act

          6. Snaring: review etc. - inserted section 11F of the 1981 Act

        3. Subsection (4)

        4. Subsection (5)

      13. Section 14 – Non-native species etc.

        1. Subsection (2)

        2. Subsection (3)

          1. Prohibition on keeping etc. - inserted section 14ZC of the 1981 Act

        3. Subsection (4)

        4. Subsection (5)

          1. Notification of presence of invasive animals etc. - inserted section 14B of the 1981 Act

      14. Section 15 – Non-native species etc.: code of practice

        1. Non-native species: code of practice etc. - inserted section 14C of the 1981 Act

      15. Section 16 – Species control orders etc.

        1. Power to make species control orders- inserted section 14D of the 1981 Act

        2. Emergency species control orders- inserted section 14E of the 1981 Act

        3. Content of species control orders - inserted section 14F of the 1981 Act

        4. Notice of species control orders - inserted section 14G of the 1981 Act

        5. Appeals in connection with species control orders-- inserted section 14H of the 1981 Act

        6. Coming into effect of species control orders - inserted section 14I of the 1981 Act

        7. Review of species control orders - inserted section 14J of the 1981 Act

        8. Offences in relation to species control orders - inserted section 14K of the 1981 Act

        9. Enforcement of operations under species control orders - inserted section 14G of the 1981 Act

        10. Species control orders: powers of entry - inserted section 14M of the 1981 Act

        11. Species control orders: entry by warrant etc. - inserted section 14N of the 1981 Act

        12. Species control orders: powers of entry: supplemental - inserted section 14O of the 1981 Act

        13. Interpretation of sections 14 to 14O of the 1981 Act - inserted section 14P of the 1981 Act

      16. Section 17 – Non-native species etc.: further provision

      17. Section 18 – Licences under the 1981 Act

        1. Subsection (2)

        2. Subsection (3)

          1. Delegation of licence-granting power - inserted section 16A  of the 1981 Act

        3. Subsection (4)

      18. Section 19 – Amendment of Schedule 6 to the 1981 Act

      19. Section 20 – Annual report on wildlife crime

      20. Section 21 – offence of knowingly causing or permitting certain offences under the 1981 Act

      21. Section 22 – Wildlife inspectors etc.

      22. Section 23 – Offences by Scottish partnerships etc.

      23. Section 24 – Liability in relation to certain offences by others

        1. Vicarious liability for certain offences by employee etc, – inserted section 18A of the 1981 Act

        2. Liability where securing services through another – inserted section 18B of the 1981 Act

      24. Section 25 – Modifications and repeals relating to Part 2 and game licensing

    3. Part 3 – Deer

      1. Section 26 – Deer management etc.

      2. Section 27 – Deer management code of practice

        1. Code of practice on deer management – inserted section 5A of the 1996 Act

      3. Section 28 – Control agreements and control schemes etc.

      4. Section 29 – Deer: close seasons etc.

      5. Section 30 – Register of persons competent to shoot deer etc.

        1. Register of persons competent to shoot deer – inserted section 17A of the 1996 Act

        2. Review of competence etc. by SNH – inserted section 17B of the 1996 Act

      6. Section 31 – Action intended to prevent suffering

      7. Section 32 – Offence by bodies corporate, Scottish partnerships etc. under the 1996 Act

    4. Part 4 – Other Wildlife Etc.

      1. Section 33 – Protection of badgers

        1. Subsections (3) to (5)

        2. Subsections (6) and (7)

          1. Delegation of licence-granting power – inserted section 10A of the 1992 Act

        3. Subsection (8)

        4. Subsection (9)

        5. Subsection (10)

        6. Subsection (11)

      2. Section 34 – Muirburn

        1. Subsection (2)

          1. Muirburn season – inserted section 23 of the 1946 Act

        2. Subsection (3)

        3. Subsection (4)

          1. Extension of muirburn season etc. – inserted section 23B of the 1946 Act

          2. Muirburn licences – inserted section 23C of the 1946 Act

        4. Subsection (5)

        5. Subsection (6)

        6. Subsection (7)

        7. Subsection (8)

          1. Giving of muirburn notices under sections 24(2) and 26 – inserted section 26A of the 1946 Act

        8. Subsection (9)

      3. Section 35 – Offences by bodies corporate, Scottish partnerships etc. under the 1946 Act

    5. Part 5 – Biodiversity

      1. Section 36 – Reports on compliance with biodiversity duty

        1. Reports on compliance with biodiversity duty – inserted section 2A of the 2004 Act

    6. Part 6 – Sites of Special Scientific Interest

      1. Section 37 – Combining sites of special scientific interest

        1. Subsection (2)

          1. Combining sites of scientific interest – inserted section 5A of the 2004 Act

        2. Subsections (3) and (4)

      2. Section 38 – Denotification of SSSIs: damage caused by authorised operations

      3. Section 39 – SSSIs: operations requiring consent

      4. Section 40 – SSSI offences: civil enforcement

        1. Subsection (1)

          1. Restoration notices – inserted section 20A of the 2004 Act

        2. Subsections (2) and (3)

    7. Part 7 – General

      1. Section 41 – Crown application

      2. Section 42 – Ancillary provision

      3. Section 43 – Commencement and short title

    8. Schedule – Ancillary provision

  4. Parliamentary History

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

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Text created by the Scottish Government to explain what the Act sets out to achieve and to make the Act accessible to readers who are not legally qualified. Explanatory Notes were introduced in 1999 and accompany all Acts of the Scottish Parliament except those which result from Budget Bills.

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