Statutory guidance

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

Updated 1 January 2024

Applies to England

Class licence CL26: interference with badger setts* for the purpose of conducting forestry operations.

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.

Registration: Anyone wishing to use this licence must first apply to Natural England to be registered.

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 2024 to 31 December 2024 (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 and/or purpose-built timber harvesters
• 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
• maintaining drainage channels with tracked mini-diggers
• removing dangerous trees

Who can use this licence

This licence can only be used by registered persons* and their assistants* except those convicted on or after 1 January 2010 of a wildlife crime* unless, in respect of that offence, either:

• they are a rehabilitated person for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and their conviction is treated as spent, or
• a court has made an order discharging them absolutely

Any application by a person to whom this exclusion applies for an individual licence will be considered on its merits.

*: 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 27.

“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 Forest England and Forest Research.

“Wildlife crime” 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 further guidance WMLG17 on interpretation of ‘current use’ of a badger sett.

Licence conditions

1. Before undertaking any action at a site under this licence, the licensee must notify Natural England by telephone or email of the name and location of the site. Notice must be given at least two working days in advance of the action being taken.
   
   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. Trees may be felled within the exclusion zone using hand-held chainsaws.
   
   
5. 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.
   
   
6. Trees must be felled to fall away from, or be lifted away from, badger sett entrances.
   
   
7. Any badger sett entrances which become blocked must be unblocked and left unobstructed at the end of each day’s work.
   
   
8. 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.
   
   
9. Timber stacks must not be created within 20m of any badger sett entrance that displays signs indicating current use by a badger.
   
   
10. 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.
    
    
11. Brash piles must not be created within 20m of any badger sett entrance that displays signs indicating current use by a badger.
    
    Forest fencing
    
    
12. Fence posts that are inadvertently driven through the roof of a badger sett tunnel must be removed and relocated to a position where they do not breach a tunnel.
    
    
13. Where new fencing (that would be a barrier to badger movement) bisects active badger runs, twoway 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
    
    
14. Cut vegetation does not have to be removed from badger sett entrances unless it is likely to obstruct access to the sett by a badger, in which case it must be removed at the end of each day’s work.
    
    Forest road maintenance
    
    
15. 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.
    
    
16. It is permissible to use up to a 5-tonne vibrating roller to compact the surface of newly repaired roads.
    
    Forest drainage maintenance
    
    
17. Prior to drainage clearance, badger sett entrances must be plugged with straw-filled (or similar material) hessian or paper sacks to prevent the associated tunnel becoming blocked with soil.
    
    
18. Where it is necessary to dig into the badger sett to achieve the desired channel width the excavation of sett tunnels must be limited to the minimum required to achieve the required channel width. Following drainage clearance, badgers must be able to access and exit the sett freely.
    
    
19. Excavated soil from the drainage channel must be placed at least ten metres from the badger sett entrance(s) to avoid obstructing access by badgers.
    
    
20. At the end of each day’s work, the hessian or paper sacks must be removed from badger sett entrances and the tunnels left unobstructed.
    
    
21. If low-level culverts are to be installed within drainage channels where excavated spoil from a badger sett is blocking the flow of water, the culvert must be installed below the level of the lowest sett entrance.
    
    
22. Excavators must operate from the opposite bank to that occupied by the badger sett unless this is not feasible or practicable.
    
    
23. These operations must not be conducted during the months of February, March or April so as to avoid the most sensitive period of the badger breeding season.
    
    Dangerous tree removal
    
    
24. Dangerous trees must be taken down in stages where feasible.
    
    
25. Limbs must be lowered individually to the ground with the assistance of ropes.
    
    
26. Limbs must not be permitted to fall onto any badger sett below.
    
    Authorised persons
    
    
27. To use this licence you must either:
    
    a. Register with Natural England to use the licence (see Information and Advice notes d - 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.
    
    
28. The Registered Person is responsible for all activities carried out under this licence, including activities carried out by their Assistants.
    
    
29. All persons using this licence must possess appropriate knowledge and experience of the relevant species (see Information and Advice note c).
    
    
30. 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
    
    
31. 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.
    
    
32. 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.
    
    
33. If Conditions 31 and 32 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 and/or a six month custodial sentence;

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 (n - p) for further information.

Issued by and on behalf of Natural England on 1 January 2024.

Information and advice specific to this licence

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; and 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; and keep animals separate from other individuals as far as possible.

i. 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 / disinfected between uses when handling mammals.

ii. 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.

iii. 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.

Operational guidance

a. Where drainage maintenance may affect sett entrances, placing straw-filled hessian or paper sacks into badger sett tunnels during operations reduces the likelihood of encountering badgers and ensures that the tunnel can be located in the event of a collapse. To reduce the risk of injury to badgers, the excavator bucket must never dig beyond the sack. If it is necessary to excavate beyond the sack, the sack must be removed (by hand) and the tunnel inspected with a bright torch to ascertain the tunnel layout. Provided the tunnel does not branch and no badgers are present, the sack must be replaced to arm’s-length and the process repeated until the desired channel width is achieved.

b. 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

Training requirements

c. 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

d. Only Registered Persons, or persons authorised or supervised by a Registered Person (see Condition 27), may act under this licence. Anyone seeking to become a Registered Person must apply to Natural England. You can register online to use this licence. Alternatively applications can be submitted by email or post (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’.

e. Once registered, a person is entitled to use this licence so long as they satisfy the licence’s terms and conditions; annual re-registration is not required. Failure to comply by the terms and conditions, including the recording and reporting requirements, will, by default, render registration null and void. The annual reporting process is used to verify a person’s desire to remain registered.

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

g. 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.

h. 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

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

j. Ordinarily, licences will be reissued on 1 January each year (NB - you do not need to re-register for those with registration requirements). Please note, however, that they 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. You are advised to check the terms and conditions of a licence prior to your first use of it each year in case of amendments.

The limits of licences

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

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

m. 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

n. 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.

o. 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.

p. 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

q. 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: 020 802 61089

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 - 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. The report template is available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/badgers-licence-to-interfere-with-setts-for-forestry-purposes

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 2024]