Natural England
Natural England is the English
government agency responsible for the protection and improvement of the natural
environment.
The Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006 established
Natural England with this purpose:
‘to ensure that the natural environment is conserved, enhanced,
and managed for the benefit of present and future generations, thereby contributing
to sustainable development’.
Natural England was formed from parts of former agencies as
follows:
• all of English
Nature
;
• the environment activities part of the Rural
Development Service (a part of DEFRA);
• the Countryside
Agency’s Landscape, Access and Recreation division.
It has all the powers of the former bodies including awarding
grants, giving advice and information, designating Sites
of Special Scientific Interest,
National Parks
and Areas of Outstanding
Natural Beauty,
managing National Nature
Reserves,
and enforcing the associated regulations. Natural England does not include the
Environment Agency,
or the Forestry Commission.
See the Natural
England Strategic Direction 2006 - 2009 document (pdf) explaining the functions
of the new agency.
The Natural England website
now has some reasonably userful stuff on it, includes plenty from the former
agencies. Expect it to change about as the new body gets organised.
The new agency got off to an inauspicious start when £12M
was cut from its budget before it was even launched. This caused some controversy.
There is also some concern that a part of the reason for this reorganisation was
to give more political control to the previously (fairly) independant agencies.
For example, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters, a
constraint that was not placed on its predecessor bodies.
Natural England
1 East Parade
Sheffield
S1 2ET
Tel: 0114 241 8920
Fax: 0114 241 8921
|
See The
Ranger's Blog
for various Natural England stories, including more about the budget cuts.
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Naturenet