Statutory guidance

Licence to interfere with badger setts for forestry purposes (CL26)

Updated 1 January 2025

Applies to England

This is a class licence. This page includes the conditions and advice for using this licence.

Find out how to register to use this licence and other important information.

This licence permits interference with badger (Meles meles) setts where there is a requirement to conduct forestry operations, such as thinning and clearfelling, including use of purpose-built harvesters, within 20 metres of any sett and including during the badger breeding season.

This licence should be relied upon where compliance with the guidelines contained within the Forestry Commission’s Forest practice guide 9 Forest operations and badger setts is not feasible or practicable.

Only employees of the Forestry Commission, its executive agencies* or its approved contractors are entitled to register to use this licence.

*see Definitions

Registration: To use this licence, you must first apply to Natural England to be registered. Natural England will confirm your registration in writing. You must not carry out any licensed activities until you receive written confirmation of your registration.

Recording and reporting: There are data recording and annual reporting requirements.

Reference: WML – CL26

Legislation

Statute(s) Protection of Badgers Act 1992 (‘the 1992 Act’).

Section(s) This licence is issued under section 10(2)(c).

Licence terms and conditions

Valid for the period: 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 (inclusive).

Area valid in: All counties of England (landward of the mean low water mark).

Purpose(s) for which this licence is issued: This licence can only be used for any forestry operations.

What this licence permits

Subject to all the terms and conditions of this licence and solely for the purpose(s) stated above, this licence permits registered persons and their assistants to:

  • interfere with a badger (Meles meles) sett by means of:

    • felling, snedding (delimbing) and converting trees (cutting into lengths), with hand-held chainsaws or purpose-built timber harvesters (or both)
    • extracting timber with tractors and winches, or purpose-built extraction machinery such as skidders or forwarders
    • clearing brash (residues of harvesting, such as lateral branches) with a 3600 tracked excavator fitted with a rake
    • erecting forest or stock fencing
    • managing forest rides with tractor-mounted flails, mowers and mulchers
    • maintaining forest roads with tracked mini-diggers and vibrating rollers
    • removing dangerous trees

Who can use this licence

Only a Registered Person* or their Assistants* can use this licence.

*see Definitions

Who cannot use this licence

You cannot use this licence if you have been convicted of a wildlife offence* on or after 1 January 2010, unless one or both of the following applies:

  • you have served your conviction and are a rehabilitated person under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974
  • a court has made an order discharging you of the wildlife offence

You cannot use this licence if Natural England has withdrawn your permission to use it.

*see Definitions

Definitions used in this licence

“Registered person” is an employee of the Forestry Commission or its executive agencies, and Forestry Commission-approved contractors, who has successfully registered to use this licence in accordance with Condition 21.

“Assistant” is a person assisting a registered person. Assistants are only authorised to act under this licence whilst they are under the direct supervision of the registered person.

“Executive agencies” are Forestry England and Forest Research.

“Wildlife offence” means any offence under the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Deer Act 1991, the Hunting Act 2004, the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Protection of Animals Act 1911 (all as amended) or the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019.

Badger sett” is defined by the 1992 Act as ‘any structure or place which displays signs indicating current use by a badger’. Examples of signs that may indicate ‘current use’ include entrances that are greater than 25cm in diameter with a flattened oval appearance, entrances that are clear of debris and vegetation, entrances with smoothed sides (due to the passage of badgers), large spoil heaps (sometimes fresh) outside entrances, fresh bedding outside entrances, fresh badger footprints in spoil heaps, and well trampled runs leading to and from entrances. See Information and Advice note a for further guidance on interpretation of ‘current use’ of a badger sett.

Licence conditions

1.Before undertaking any action at a site under this licence, the Registered Person must notify Natural England. Email badgerclnotifications@naturalengland.org.uk with the site name, location address, and map of the site. Notice must be given at least 5 working days in advance of the action being taken. The Registered Person may authorise another individual to submit this notification on their behalf. When submitting the notification to Natural England by email, the authorised individual must provide a copy to the Registered Person (the Registered Person must be ‘copied in’ to the email submission). It remains the overall responsibility of the Registered Person to ensure that accurate and complete notifications are provided to Natural England.

Thinning and clear-felling operations

2. Prior to the start of operations, an area within a minimum distance of ten metres of any known badger sett entrances that display signs indicating current use by a badger must be clearly marked using coloured tape, string, paint, or other markers. Any further setts which are discovered during the operation must be similarly marked as soon as their presence becomes known.

3. Within the marked area (‘exclusion zone’) no heavy machinery is to be used, no burning is to be carried out, and no stumps are to be removed. Fuel, oil, and chemicals must not be stored or applied within the marked area (the only exception is where conifer stumps must be treated against attack by the fungus heterobasidion annosum (Fomes)).

4. Vehicles must not drive directly over, or park on top of badger sett entrances.

5. Trees may be felled within the exclusion zone using hand-held chainsaws.

6. Trees may also be felled using a purpose-built Harvester, where the boom and processing head of the harvester can safely reach into the exclusion zone to fell and process trees, provided the body of the machine remains parked outside the exclusion zone.

7. Trees must be felled to fall away from, or be lifted away from, badger sett entrances.

8. Any badger sett entrances which become blocked must be unblocked and left unobstructed at the end of each day’s work.

9. Timber may be extracted from inside the exclusion zone using a tractor and winch or a purpose built forwarder or skidder provided the body of these machines remains parked outside the exclusion zone.

10. Timber stacks must not be created within 20 metres of any badger sett entrance that displays signs indicating current use by a badger.

11. A 360° tracked excavator fitted with a rake may be used to remove brash from within the exclusion zone provided the body of this machine remains parked outside the exclusion zone.

12. Brash piles must not be created within 20 metres of any badger sett entrance that displays signs indicating current use by a badger.

Forest fencing

13. Fence posts that are inadvertently driven through the roof of a badger sett must be removed and relocated to a position where they do not breach a tunnel or chamber.

14. Where new fencing (that would be a barrier to badger movement) bisects active badger runs, two-way gates must be installed to permit badgers to move freely (refer to Natural England’s Technical Information Note TIN026 Badger gates in rabbit-proof fencing for guidance.

Forest ride maintenance

15. Any cut vegetation in sett entrances that is likely to prevent access to the sett by a badger must be removed at the end of each day’s work.

Forest road maintenance

16. It is permissible to scrape off the surface of existing forest roads to a maximum depth of 200mm using a 3-tonne tracked mini-digger to facilitate resurfacing.

17. It is permissible to use up to a 5-tonne vibrating roller to compact the surface of newly repaired roads.

Dangerous tree removal

18. Dangerous trees must be taken down in stages where feasible.

19. Limbs must be lowered individually to the ground with the assistance of ropes.

20. Limbs must not be permitted to fall onto any badger sett below.

Authorised persons

21. To use this licence you must either:

a. Register with Natural England to use the licence (see Information and Advice notes d to h).

b. Be authorised by a Registered Person to act as an Assistant (see Definitions), in which case you may act under the authority of this licence so long as you are doing so under the direct supervision of a Registered Person.

22. The Registered Person is responsible for all activities carried out under this licence, including activities carried out by their Assistants.

23. Whilst engaged in work permitted by this licence all persons registered or authorised to act under this licence must have access to a copy of this licence and produce it to any police officer or any Natural England officer on demand.

Recording and reporting requirements

24. The Registered Person must maintain a record, which must be kept for at least 24 months after the expiry date of this licence, in accordance with the requirements of Annex A. Records are to be made available for inspection at any reasonable time by Natural England. The Registered Person may authorise other individuals to maintain this record on their behalf. It is the responsibility of the Registered Person in all cases to ensure that these records are adequate and appropriately available.

25. The Registered Person must comply with the reporting requirements specified in Annex A. Reports, including ‘nil’ returns, must be submitted for the period 1 January to 31 December by no later than 31 January of the following year. The Registered Person may authorise other individuals to submit reports on their behalf. When submitting the report to Natural England by email, the authorised individual must provide a copy to the Registered Person (the Registered Person must be ‘copied in’ to the email submission). It is the responsibility of the Registered Person in all cases to ensure that records are accurate and submitted in accordance with the terms of this licence.

26. If Conditions 24 and 25 are not met then the Registered Person will, by default, no longer be considered registered to act under this licence.

Important

This licence authorises acts that would otherwise be offences under the legislation referred to above. Failure to comply with its terms and conditions:

i. may be an offence against the 1992 Act or mean that the licence cannot be relied upon and an offence could therefore be committed. The maximum penalty available for an offence under the 1992 Act is, at the time of the issue of this licence, an unlimited fine or a 6 month custodial sentence (or both);

ii. may result in your permission to use this licence being withdrawn. Natural England will inform any person or organisation whose permission to use this licence is withdrawn in writing. This sanction may be applied to other similar licences, and

iii. may mean that you are not able to rely on this licence as a defence in respect to the prohibitions within the Animal Welfare Act 2006 or the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996.

If the activity that you wish to undertake is not covered by this licence, or if you are unable to comply with any of the terms and conditions which apply to the use of this licence, then you will need to apply to Natural England for an individual licence.

This licence is not a consent for the purposes of Part II of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) in respect to SSSIs. It is your responsibility to get consent or assent if required before this licence can be used on any SSSI. See Advice (m to o) for further information.

Issued by and on behalf of Natural England on 1 January 2025.

Information and advice specific to this licence

Operational guidance

a. The following relevant guidance is available:

  • Forestry Commission’s Forest Practice Guide 9 Forest operations and badger setts (FCPG9)
  • Badger gates in rabbit-proof fencing TIN026
  • Guidance on what constitutes ‘disturbance’ to badgers in their setts WML-G16
  • Guidance on ‘current use’ of a badger sett WML-G17

If there is a difference between a licence condition and published guidelines, you must follow the licence condition.

Training requirements

b. Training applicable to the activities permitted by the licence should be undertaken at regular intervals. It is the responsibility of each Registered Person to maintain their expertise at an appropriate level to act under this licence and it is also the Registered Person’s responsibility to ensure that Assistants have appropriate training, experience and instruction, including on mitigation measures employed, to act under this licence.

Registering to use this licence

c. Only Registered Persons, or persons authorised or supervised by a Registered Person (see Condition 21), may act under this licence. Anyone seeking to become a Registered Person must apply to Natural England. Applications can be submitted by email or post (contact details below). Applicants must be employed by or contracted to work for the Forestry Commission, or its executive agencies (Forestry England and Forest Research). Applicants contracted to work for the Forestry Commission (or its executive agencies) must provide the name and contact details of a Forestry Commission (or executive agency) member of staff.

d. To stay registered, each year the Registered Person must:

  1. Complete the licence report form, even if no licensed action has been taken. This should cover the period 1 January to 31 December of the previous year.
  2. Confirm that they wish to continue to be registered for the year ahead.

These actions must be completed no later than 31 January.

Your registration will continue unless you are otherwise informed by Natural England, provided you submit your completed licence report form as detailed above.

Failure to comply with the terms and conditions, including the recording and reporting requirements, will, by default, render registration null and void.

e. Anyone seeking to confirm whether a person is registered to use this licence should contact Natural England Wildlife Licensing (contact details below).

f. A person’s registration may be revoked by Natural England, for example, if that person breaches the conditions of this licence. In these circumstances Natural England will normally give 28 days’ notice of our intention to revoke a person’s registration.

g. Registration to use this licence to interfere with a badger sett is taken as a statement that the Registered Person has an appropriate level of competence in these activities. The licence should not be used or taken to indicate competence in any other activity that may be associated with work affecting badgers, for example, for the purposes of any other activity for which an individual licence is required – https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/badger-licences.

Information and advice for all class and general licences

General information

h. Natural England checks compliance with licences and the attached conditions. Where breaches are identified, these may be subject to enforcement action.

i. Ordinarily, licences will be reissued on 1 January each year. Your registration will remain active provided you submit your licence report form annually, as stated in note e. On reissue of the licence, you should check the terms and conditions of the licence before you use it for the first time each year, in case of amendments. Note that licences can be modified or revoked at any time by Natural England or the Secretary of State, but this will not be done unless there are good reasons for doing so.

The limits of licences

j. Licences permit action only for the purposes specified on that licence.

k. Licences do not permit actions prohibited under any other legislation, nor do they confer any right of entry upon land.

l. Unless otherwise stated the provisions of Natural England licences only apply landward of the mean low water mark in England. The Marine Management Organisation is responsible for all licensing seaward of the mean low water mark.

Protected sites

m. You can search for and view details about all SSSIs by using Natural England’s Designated Sites system. The notification documents for each SSSI contain a list of operations that require Natural England’s prior consent. Owners and occupiers of land notified as SSSIs are required to give written notice to Natural England before either beginning any of these operations, or allowing someone else to carry out those operations. SSSI consent can only be given to a SSSI owner or occupier. It may be given with or without conditions, or in some cases, consent may not be granted. A similar process applies to public bodies and statutory undertakers (as defined under Section 28G of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)) and this obligation applies even where the operations are carried out on land outside of the SSSI.

n. Please note that as the licensee you will not be able to undertake the licensed activity on a SSSI until the owner or occupier of the SSSI has applied for, and received, Natural England’s written SSSI consent. If you do so, you may be at risk of committing an offence. As the licensee, if you wish to exercise this licence on a SSSI you must contact the relevant owners or occupiers of the SSSI and ensure they give written notice to Natural England of their proposal to permit you to carry out licensed activity on their SSSI. You should wait until a SSSI consent decision has been received by the SSSI owner/occupier before you begin to exercise this licence on a SSSI. See GOV.UK for further information on how to get SSSI consent from Natural England.

o. In considering whether to issue consent or assent for activities likely to affect a SSSI that is a European site, in other words a Special Protection Area (SPA) or Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Natural England will carry out a Habitats Regulations Assessment, as required by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) (‘the Habitats Regulations’) to ensure there will be no adverse effects on the European site.

Using and sharing your information

p. There is significant public interest in wildlife licensing and in those who benefit from receiving a wildlife licence. We may make information publicly available, for more information, please see our privacy notice.

Coronavirus – Best practice

To avoid transmitting COVID-19 from people to wild mammals, you should:

  • stay at least 2 metres from live wild mammals at all times

  • only capture or handle live wild mammals if necessary

  • avoid going within 2 metres of known breeding or regularly used resting sites of mammals

If you cannot follow these guidelines, then you should:

  • minimise the time spent in close proximity and handling mammals

  • limit the number of people that come into close proximity or handle mammals

  • keep animals separate from other individuals as far as possible

Persons acting under this licence should follow good hygiene practices, including wearing of disposable gloves, or clean and disinfected non-disposable gloves; wearing a face covering when handling and in close proximity to any mammal; and washing hands before and after close proximity or handling of any mammal. Face coverings, non-disposable gloves and overalls or other clothing should be washed or disinfected between uses when handling mammals.

You should not carry out activities under this licence if you feel unwell, test positive for COVID-19 or live with someone who has or might have COVID-19.

Any products used to clean and disinfect equipment should be safe for use where there could be contact with animals and used at an effective and safe dilution rate. ‘Safe4’ is considered to be an appropriate disinfectant for this purpose and is considered effective against the virus at a dilution of 1:50. Other products can be used to clean and disinfect equipment.

Contact Natural England for licensing enquiries

Telephone: 0300 060 3900

Email: wildlife@naturalengland.org.uk

Wildlife Licensing, Operations Delivery
Natural England
Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AH

For other enquiries use the Enquiry Service.

Telephone: 0300 060 3900

Email: enquiries@naturalengland.org.uk

Annex A – Register with Natural England to use Recording and reporting requirements

Records

Each Registered Person must maintain, and keep for at least 24 months beyond the expiry date of this licence, a record of the following information for each forestry operation conducted using this licence (this also includes forestry operations conducted by Assistants acting under their authority):

  • date the badger sett was interfered with
  • type of forestry operation, and
  • location (administrative area and a six-figure Ordnance Survey grid reference)

Reporting

A report, detailing the information stipulated above, including ‘nil’ returns, must be sent by each Registered Person to Natural England Wildlife Licensing (at the address given above) for the reporting period 1 January to 31 December no later than 31 January of the following year. Use the Report actions taken under licences CL26 and CL27 form.

Commercial confidentiality

If you encounter difficulties releasing data due to client confidentiality restrictions then you are advised to remind your client that it is a condition of using this licence that licensing information is reported. Furthermore, the licence may only be used if this condition is met.

To help avoid such difficulties, it is recommended that your contractual terms and conditions make it clear that submitting records to Natural England and other bodies specified in licences is a legal requirement. If a client is not prepared to accept such terms and conditions then you may not use this licence without the prior permission of Natural England Wildlife Licensing.

WML-CL26 [version January 2025]