Statutory guidance

Licence to survey great crested newts for scientific or educational purposes – Level 2 (CL09)

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.

Overview

This licence permits the surveying of great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) by hand, nets, torches, aquatic funnel traps (including bottle traps) and pitfall traps but excludes the use of box traps.

This licence can only be relied upon where surveying is carried out for scientific, research or educational purposes, including informing development projects, and users must comply with licence terms and conditions at all times.

A Level 1 licence, which excludes pitfall trapping, is also available and this may be more suitable for many people undertaking surveying (see Information and Advice note b).

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 – CL09.

Legislation

Statute(s) Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017 (as amended) (‘the Habitats Regulations’) Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended) (‘the 1981 Act’).

Section(s) This licence is issued under sections 16(3)(a) and 16(5) of the 1981 Act and regulation 55(2)(a) of the Habitats Regulation.

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 science (including research) and education.

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, Accredited Agents and their Assistants to:

i. disturb and take great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) while surveying by means of:

• aquatic funnel traps (including bottle traps)
• hand
• nets
• pitfall traps
• torches

Who can use this licence

Only a Registered Person*, an Accredited Agent* or their Assistants* can use this licence. You must contact Natural England to apply for an individual licence if this licence does not cover the action you want to take.

* 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

A “Registered Person” is a person who has successfully registered to use this licence in accordance with Condition 5.

An “Accredited Agent” is a suitably trained and experienced person who is able to carry out work under a licence without the personal supervision of the Registered Person in accordance with Condition 5.

An “Assistant” is a person assisting a Registered Person or Accredited Agent in accordance with Condition 5.

“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.

Licence conditions

1. No work shall be carried out under this licence on a National Nature Reserve or a Marine Nature Reserve except with the prior written permission of Natural England (contact details for the relevant advisers are available from the Enquiry Service – see details below).

2. Persons acting under this licence must abide by the most up to date iterations of the relevant species guidance. If there is a difference between a licence condition and published guidelines, you must follow the licence condition. In this context the relevant species guidance includes:
   
   i. The advice on trapping in the ‘great crested newt mitigation guidelines’ (see Information and Advice note d), and
   
   ii. ‘Amphibian Disease Precautions – a guide for UK fieldworkers’ (see Information and Advice note e).
   
   
3. All great crested newts taken under this licence must be liberated at the site of capture immediately after examination.
   
   
4. All relevant animal welfare legislation must be complied with at all times, including the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (see Information and Advice note g).
   
   
5. To use this licence you must either:
   
   a. be a Registered Person (see Information and Advice notes j – k)
   
   b. be authorised as an Accredited Agent (see Definitions) by a Registered Person, in which case you are only permitted to act under the authority of this licence if you are in possession of a letter signed by the Registered Person appointing you by name as a duly Accredited Agent for the purpose of this licence. Accredited Agents shall carry a copy of the said letter when acting under the licence and shall produce it to any police or Natural England officer on request, or
   
   c. be authorised by a Registered Person or their Accredited Agent 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 or their Accredited Agent.
   
   
6. The Registered Person is responsible for all activities carried out under this licence, including activities carried out by their Accredited Agents and their Assistants.
   
   
7. The following additional conditions apply to the use of pitfall traps under this licence:
   
   i. Natural England must be notified at least five working days prior to commencement of installation of fence and traps (please use form WML-CL09 for this purpose, which should be sent to Wildlife Licensing – see below for contact details)
   
   ii. A maximum of 20 metre fence line and 15 pitfall traps may be used per site
   
   iii. Care must be taken to avoid obstructing or significantly disrupting natural migration patterns
   
   iv. Ponds must not be ring-fenced
   
   v. Fences must not be in place for longer than 20 days
   
   vi. Pitfall traps must be checked at least once in every 24 hours between 06.00 and 11.00 hours (preferably they should be checked more frequently), and
   
   vii. Fence and trap design and welfare considerations must comply with the ‘great crested newt mitigation guidelines’ (see Information and Advice note d).
   
   
8. If you catch a species listed as an invasive non-native (alien) animal you must not release it. You must quickly and humanely dispatch it, or give it to a premises licensed to keep it. For a list of licensed premises contact Natural England: invasive-alien-species-licence@naturalengland.org.uk.
   
   Recording and reporting requirements
   
   
9. The Registered Person must maintain a record, which must be kept for at least 24 months beyond 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.
   
   
10. The Registered Person must comply with the reporting requirements specified in Annex A. Reports, including ‘nil’ returns, must be submitted for the period from and including 1 October to 30 September no later than 31 October each year.
    
    
11. If Conditions 9 and 10 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 1981 Act or the Habitats Regulations, 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 1981 Act and Habitats Regulations is, at the time of the issue of this licence, an unlimited fine and/or a six month custodial sentence

ii. may result in your registration to use this licence being revoked and/or the refusal to allow you to be registered on future 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. Breaching a condition of a licence issued under the 1981 Act is not in itself an offence but doing so may mean that the licence cannot be relied upon and an offence could therefore be committed.

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 (u - w) for further information.

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

Information and advice specific to this licence

a. Persons acting under this licence may photograph great crested newts in connection with licensed work, provided that this causes no additional disturbance.

b. This licence does not permit the taking and disturbance of great crested newts, either by hand or by interference from dogs, for the purpose of training ecological detection dogs.

Individuals wishing to use and/or disturb great crested newts to train dogs as ecological detection dogs should apply for an A29 Protected species licence for science, education or conservation.

Level 1 and Level 2 survey licences

c. There are two survey licences for great crested newts. These differ in the methods of surveying permitted:

Level 1 (reference WML - CL08) permits surveying by hand, net, torch and aquatic funnel trap (including bottle trap), and

Level 2 (reference WML - CL09) additionally permits the use of pitfall traps

To register to use the Level 2 licence you require additional experience and/or training. This is the Level 2 survey licence.

Guidance on surveying

d. See the great crested newt mitigation guidelines on GOV.UK and more general advice Great Crested Newt Conservation Handbook on the Froglife website.

e. See the Amphibian Disease Precautions – a guide for UK fieldworkers (ARG-UK Advice Note 4) on the Amphibian and Reptile Groups of UK website. You will be expected to check whether this guidance has been updated and if so, to ensure that you act in accordance with the most up to date version.

Relevant legislation and good practice

f. Seasonal trapping advice:

i. Pitfall traps should be closed once newts begin to hibernate (generally after the first frosts) and reopened in suitable weather conditions in the spring when newts become active again above ground. Although some newts may become active during the winter period, their behaviour is unpredictable and many individuals will remain in hibernation sites, where they are unavailable for capture. Furthermore, strong directional movements, which are optimum for successful trapping, are much less common during this period.

ii. Pitfall trapping over the winter has welfare implications for both target and non-target species caught in traps and this licence should not be used for trapping over the winter, even during periods of milder weather.

g. Persons acting under a licence should have regard to legislation and good practice relevant to the action(s) undertaken, including animal welfare and the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (2006 Act). It is an offence to cause any unnecessary suffering to an animal (including birds) under the control of man (section 4 of the 2006 Act). This applies to the humane dispatch of captured animals and the treatment of animals held in traps or nets, including decoy birds and non-target animals. The application of Animal Welfare Act 2006 to wildlife management activities is explained in Natural England leaflet Wildlife Management Advice Note: The Animal Welfare Act 2006: what it means for wildlife (WML-GU02).

h. If pitfall traps are used in areas where shrews occur, the traps must be designed to allow shrews to escape.

Biosecurity

i. Users of this licence should consider the risks of activities to biosecurity and take relevant precautions when visiting sites with freshwater to avoid the spread of amphibian and fish diseases, as well as invasive non-native species. General biosecurity advice can be found on the GB Non-Native Species Secretariat (NNSS) website. Specific biosecurity guidance for water users on the Check, Clean, Dry pages.

Registering to use this licence

j. Only Registered Persons, or persons authorised or supervised by a Registered Person (see Condition 5), may act under this licence. Anyone seeking to become a Registered Person must apply to Natural England using the online registration form. Contact Natural England if you require an alternative application format (contact details below).

Applications require supporting evidence (including references) indicating appropriate knowledge and experience of the species covered by this licence and the management techniques permitted (see Reference guidance).

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

1. Complete the ‘survey return form’, even if no licensed action has been taken. This should cover the period 1 October to 30 September.
2. Confirm that they wish to continue to be registered for the year ahead.

These actions must be completed no later than 31 October.

Your registration will continue unless you are otherwise informed by Natural England, provided you submit your completed survey return 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.

l. It is the responsibility of Registered Persons to maintain their expertise at an appropriate level to act under this licence and it is also their responsibility to ensure that Accredited Agents and Assistants have appropriate training, experience and instruction, including on mitigation measures commonly employed, to act under this licence.

m. Anyone seeking to confirm whether a person is registered to use this licence should contact Natural England Wildlife Licensing.

n. 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.

The law

o. Surveying great crested newts requires derogation under two separate legal statutes. Therefore, Natural England has issued this licence in exercise of the powers conferred by section 16(3)(a) and section 16(5) of the 1981 Act and under regulation 55(2)(a) of the Habitats Regulations, being satisfied that as regards the purpose set out at paragraph 1 there is no satisfactory alternative and that the action authorised will not be detrimental to the maintenance of the populations of the species concerned at a favourable conservation status in their natural range.

Information and advice for all class and general licences

General information

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

q. Ordinarily, licences will be reissued on 1 January each year. Your registration will remain active provided you submit your survey return form annually as stated in note k. 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.

r. The common name of the species given in a licence is included by way of guidance only; in the event of any dispute or proceedings, it is the scientific name of a species only that will be taken into account.

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

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

u. 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

v. 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.

w. 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.

x. 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) to ensure there will be no adverse effects on the European Site.

Using and sharing your information

y. 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.

Contact Natural England for licensing enquiries:

Telephone: 0300 060 3900

Email: wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk

Wildlife Licensing
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

Website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/natural-england

Annex A - Recording and reporting requirements

Records

Each Registered Person shall maintain a record, which must be kept for at least 24 months beyond the expiry date of this licence, of the following information for each survey undertaken using this licence (this also includes surveys conducted by Accredited Agents and Assistants acting under their authority):

• date survey undertaken
• location (administrative area and a 6-figure (minimum) Ordnance Survey grid reference), and
• number of great crested newts observed during each survey

Reporting

1. A report, detailing the information stipulated above, including ‘nil’ returns, must be sent by each registered person to Natural England Wildlife Licensing (contact details above) for the reporting period 1 October to 30 September no later than 31 October each year.

2. Application and report forms.

3. Registered Persons must also submit data collected under this licence to the local record centre. Data for each reporting period (as detailed in 1 above) must be submitted no later than 31 October each year. The Registered Person may authorise other individuals to submit this data on their behalf. 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.

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 survey information is reported. Furthermore, the licence may only be used if this condition is met and withholding information may lead to a licence breach (which under regulation 60 of the Habitats Regulations is an offence).

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-CL09 [Version January 2025]