Decision

Defra’s 2025 Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) and decision to issue general licence GL43 for 2025 to 2027

Published 20 May 2025

Applies to England

Introduction

This document, known as “2025 HRA” sets out the decision made to issue general licence GL43 and the accompanying Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA)^{[footnote 1]} used to inform the decision. The Secretary of State for the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) is the competent authority in issuing a new general licence for the release of common pheasant and red-legged partridge (collectively referred to as ‘gamebirds’ for the purposes of this HRA) onto special areas of conservation (SACs)^{[footnote 2]} in England.

Natural England’s advice for the 2025 to 2027 licence

Natural England in their statutory advice (Annex A), noted that Defra was, at the time of the advice request, minded to rely substantively on the contents and conclusions of its previous (2023) HRA undertaken to inform its previous decision to issue GL43 in May 2023 (Annex B).

However, Natural England acknowledged that it was timely and appropriate to reconsider whether Defra’s GL43 proposal was capable of affecting a species protected by a SAC, and whether there is any risk of significant effects to them which Defra should consider further in its HRA of this new proposal.

Decision to issue GL43

With regard to the designated habitats and non-avian species of SACs in England, Defra does not consider there to be any substantive changes to the project under assessment or further information or developments, that would trigger a review of previous HRAs. Therefore, Defra has decided to issue GL43.

However, in light of Natural England’s advice regarding Lundy SAC and the very high national highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) risk level in wild birds we are currently experiencing, Defra has decided as a highly precautionary measure, to remove Lundy SAC from the scope of GL43 and to include an additional condition ensuring best practice when it comes to biosecurity measures.

The new GL43 authorises the release of a specified density of gamebirds on or within 500m of SACs in England and is valid until 1 February 2027. Emerging evidence will be monitored, throughout the lifetime of this licence and its provisions may be modified accordingly.

Methodology and use of evidence

This 2025 Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) ^{[footnote 1]} is supported by Defra’s 2023 HRA (Annex B) conducted prior to Defra’s decision to issue the 2023 to 2025 general licence to release gamebirds on Special Areas of Conservation (SACs)^{[footnote 2]} or within 500m of their boundaries.

In order to assess the impact on SACs in 2025, Natural England reviewed the available evidence to assess the risks to vertebrate feature-groups, in particular seals and otters, associated with gamebird releases during summer 2025 and the potential of ‘bridging species’ to disseminate highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) more widely during summer 2025.

Part A: Introduction and information about the plan or project and an initial assessment of credible risk to European sites

Defra notes the information set out in Natural England’s shadow HRA part 2 (Annex C): SACs and non-bird Ramsar sites in England, without comment.

Part B: Information about Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and non-bird Ramsar sites which could be affected

Defra notes the information set out in Natural England’s shadow HRA part 2 without comment.

Part C: Screening of the plan or project for appropriate assessment

Defra agrees with the assessment and screening decision made at C2 and C3 of the shadow HRA part 1 addendum (Annex D).

Part D: Appropriate assessment on site integrity

D3. Assessment of potential adverse effects, considering any incorporated and additional mitigation measures

Defra agrees with the assessment and conclusions made by Natural England’s 2021 shadow HRA part 2 concerning non-HPAIV related impacts on non-avian species for which SACs have been designated and the safeguards that were suggested for SACs at that time.

Although primarily focussed on bird to bird transmission, the 2023 sHRA part 1 addendum subsequently highlighted that non-avian feature species likely to utilise functionally linked land on or around a European site may also directly or indirectly interact with HPAIV infected birds and themselves become infected, most significantly though predation of sick individual birds and scavenging of carcasses, but also through contact with the contaminated environment. 

Defra notes the information set out in Natural England’s 2025 statutory advice concerning cases in non-avian SAC feature species, in particular, otters and seals. Natural England’s advice concludes that no licence amends are required to specifically protect Otters. However, given the numbers of individual animals which can be present at high density in breeding colonies, seals can be especially vulnerable to disease and mass mortality events. This has been illustrated in the past by the impact of the phocine distemper virus (‘PDV’) outbreak amongst seals in North Sea colonies.

Of the 5 SACs designated in England for either grey or common/harbour seal, 4 of them overlap with a Special Protection Area (SPA)^{[footnote 3]} and will therefore co-incidentally benefit from measures intended to minimise the potential risks to SPA birds. Lundy is the only SAC with a designated seal feature which is not also a SPA. As such, any gamebird release on Lundy would be under GL43 only, and hence would not benefit from measures applied to gamebird releases on or near SPAs.

Taking into account this advice, Defra has decided as a highly precautionary measure, to remove Lundy SAC from the scope of GL43. Also, recognising the generally very high HPAIV in wild birds risk level we are currently experiencing, Defra has decided to include an additional licence condition ensuring best practice when it comes to implementing biosecurity measures in relation to other SAC related releases.

D4. Assessment of potentially adverse effects considering the project ‘in combination’ with other proposed plans and projects

Defra considers that the in-combination assessment has been addressed adequately in the sHRA and that Defra’s proposed changes to the mitigating measures do not change the assessment, and it is therefore adopted in this HRA.

D5. Conclusions on site integrity

Natural England’s advice is that their shadow assessment can ascertain that the project (the proposed general licence GL43) will not have an adverse effect on the integrity of SAC, and non-bird Ramsar site(s), either alone or in combination with other plans and projects, considering its limited duration (two years) and subject to the incorporation of the measures outlined in section D3 of this assessment as general restrictions and/or conditions to be attached to the project.

Conclusion

Overall Defra remains of the view that the risk of increased HPAIV transmission from gamebird releasing to SACs designated for vertebrate species (otter, bats, seals and cetacean) remains very low, given the limited spatial overlap and behavioural interaction which can be anticipated to occur between these features and released gamebirds and their environment.

Natural England’s advice is that the proposed GL43 itself, either alone or in combination with other plans and projects, is highly unlikely to exacerbate the ongoing risk of transmission to these mammal species present on SACs. However, given we are currently experiencing a very high HPAIV risk level in wild birds and Natural England’s advice concerning the particular vulnerability of high density seal breeding colonies on Lundy SAC, Defra has decided as a highly precautionary measure, to remove Lundy SAC from the scope of GL43.  

For other SACs, any potential for risk that might be attributable to gamebird releasing would benefit from measures applied to gamebird releases on or near SPAs and lowered further by the additional GL43 condition ensuring best practice when it comes to biosecurity measures.

Emerging evidence will be monitored throughout the lifetime of this licence and its provisions may be modified accordingly.

Definitions

1. A Habitats Regulations Assessment is an assessment to test if a plan or project proposal could significantly harm the designated features of a European site. The term ‘European site’ refers to special protection areas (SPAs) and special areas of conservation (SACs). The definition of European site is set out in Regulation 8 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. ↩ ↩²

2. Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) are sites deemed suitable by the appropriate authority for the conservation of natural habitat types listed in annex I or of species listed in annex II of the Habitats Directive which naturally occur in that territory. ↩ ↩²

3. Special Protection Areas (SPAs) are sites deemed suitable by the appropriate authority for the conservation of species listed in annex 1 of the Wild Birds Directive which naturally occur in that territory and the conservation of regularly occurring migratory species of wild birds not listed in annex 1 and which naturally occur in that territory. ↩