The Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) and its subsequent amendments is key to the protection of plant and animal species and important natural areas. The act is divided in four parts:
- Wildlife
- Nature conservation, countryside and national parks
- Public rights of way
- Miscellaneous and general
Part 1 of the act (Wildlife) provides protection to a range of rare species as well as general protection to breeding birds and their nests. The species that receive protection are listed in a range of schedules. These are updated regularly.
Part 2 of the act (Nature conservation, countryside and national parks) consolidates and amends the legislation around statutory and other sites that should be protected to conserve valuable ecological resources. It describes the arrangements around Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), National Parks, National Nature Reserves and Ramsar sites.
Part 3 (Public Rights of Way) builds on the public access rights provided in The National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. One of the key elements is the introduction of a duty on local authorities to publish rights of way maps for their area.
Since its original publication in 1981, the Act has been amended on numerous occasions. Two pieces of legislation in particular introduced significant changes to the Act. The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 introduced European legislation for the protection of habitats and rare species. The Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) strengthened the 1981 Act further.
