The Environment Department (Defra) and its advisers Natural England may have failed to comply with laws relating to the protection of wild birds, a watchdog has found.
The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) said Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Natural England could have failed to implement the recommendations of several conservation bodies to strengthen measures to safeguard bird species.
The Government has a legal obligation to maintain populations of wild birds and ensure they have enough suitable habitats.
One way in which they can do this is through special protection areas (SPAs), which are legally designated sites that protect rare or threatened birds, as well as migratory birds.
The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), which advises ministers on nature and sustainability, as well as other conservation public bodies, previously provided several recommendations to the Government on the classification and adaptation SPAs on land.
But following an investigation launched last year, the OEP said the Government may have failed to implement the recommendations and comply with its legal duties to protect wild birds.
The watchdog announced on Monday that it has notified both Defra and Natural England with the details of its finding, adding that each public authority has two months to respond before it considers the next steps.
Helen Venn, chief regulatory officer for the OEP, said SPAs are “internationally important areas for breeding, overwintering, and migrating birds” that should play an important role in efforts to reach nature goals and legally binding targets to halt the decline of species abundance.
But she warned that wild bird populations “continue to decline across England”.
“There has been constructive engagement during our investigation with Defra and Natural England and note that some positive steps are being taken in these areas,” she said.
“However, our investigation has found what we believe to be possible failures to comply with environmental law relating to the protection of wild birds and we have therefore decided to move to the next step in our enforcement process, which is to issue information notices setting out our findings.”
When the investigation was launched, the OEP said it would also consider whether the same issues applied in the marine environment.
The watchdog concluded that there has been a possible failure by the Environment Secretary to comply with environmental law relating to the classification of marine SPAs, so this has been added to the scope of the investigation.
A parallel investigation is looking at the same issues relating to Northern Ireland, while Environmental Standards Scotland and the Interim Environmental Protection Assessor for Wales have also been considering SPA issues.
A Defra spokesperson said: “Britain is a proud nation of nature lovers, and we are taking bold action to reverse decades of decline.
“This includes £13 million to improve our protected sites and better strategic approaches to restore native species and habitats.
“We will continue to work constructively with the OEP as they take forward this investigation”
John Holmes, strategy director at Natural England, said: “Protected sites, including special protection areas, are our most important places for nature and vital for achieving nature recovery.
“We remain committed to protecting and enhancing habitats for wild birds across England and will engage constructively with the OEP throughout this process.”
