Guidance

Habitats and species of principal importance in England

List of priority habitats and species in England (‘Section 41 habitats and species’) for public bodies, landowners and funders to use for biodiversity conservation.

• From: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Natural England
• Published: 8 September 2022
• Last updated: 10 November 2022 — See all updates

Applies to England

• Publication for Northern Ireland
• Publication for Scotland
• Publication for Wales

Documents

List of habitats and species of principal importance in England

ODS, 48 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Details

The list of habitats and species of principal importance in England includes 56 habitats and 943 species first identified as priority habitats and species in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (UK BAP).

The list is for:

• public bodies – to help them meet their ‘biodiversity duty’ to be aware of biodiversity conservation in their policy or decision making
• landowners – to inform their nature recovery planning, action and funding applications
• funding bodies – to support suitable nature recovery

To find out more about priority habitats, view:

• the full habitat descriptions in the List of UK BAP priority habitats on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee website
• regional maps showing the habitats’ size and location in the Priority Habitat Inventory on data.gov.uk

Publishing the list is a legal duty under Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act.

Published 8 September 2022
Last updated 10 November 2022 + show all updates

1. 10 November 2022

   Updated the list of habitats and species of principal importance in England.

2. 8 September 2022

   First published.