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Statutory guidance

Hazel dormice: survey or research – level 2 licence (CL10b)

Register for a licence to temporarily mark hazel dormice to survey for research, conservation or development projects – and report actions taken under the licence.

Updates to this page

From:
Natural England
Published:
1 January 2015
Last updated:
12 March 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated to make it clearer how to use an existing licence for another year.

  2. Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030. Additionally, the process for submitting a survey licence return has changed and a new online form has been added to the page.

  3. Updated licence charge.

  4. Added a link to the updated 'Apply for a class licence to survey protected species' form.

  5. We are currently making improvements to our licensing forms. The register for a class licence form on this page will change to a new format in early March 2025. Once this happens, the current version of the form will no longer be available.

  6. Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January to 31 December 2025. Reworded several sections to make the information clearer, including the section on 'Registering to use this licence'.

  7. In the 'Continue your registration' section, corrected the link to the 'survey return form'.

  8. There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.

  9. Annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2023.

  10. Page updated: You should only complete and submit a survey return form between 1 and 31 January. If you need to submit it outside these dates (for exceptional reasons only) email wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk

  11. Changes to this page include the: - annual licence update, valid from 1 January 2022 - replacement of the PDF form for an accessible online form to submit survey returns - addition of information about the £35 fee to continue your registration which comes into effect in January 2022

  12. From 1 October 2021, you will need to pay £80 to register for this licence, unless you're exempt.

  13. Annual licence update.

  14. Report form LR-CL10a-10b added.

  15. Accessible version of licence added - HTML.

  16. Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2020

  17. Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2019

  18. Registration form A29-1 added.

  19. Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2018

  20. Annual licence update 2017.

  21. Replaced licence with new version issued 1 January 2016.

  22. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Licence to survey and temporarily mark hazel dormice for scientific or educational purposes – Level 2 (CL10b)

Ref: WML-CL10b

HTML

Details

This licence allows you to temporarily mark dormice by fur-clipping, and to handle dormice in:

  • nests
  • nest tubes
  • nest boxes

You must release the dormice where they were captured as soon as you’ve examined them.

You must apply for an individual licence or a level 1 licence for survey, research or conservation work not covered by this licence.

For development work affecting hazel dormice, you must apply for a mitigation licence.

On this page you can:

Register with Natural England

You must register with Natural England before you can use this licence.

What you need to pay

It costs £104 to register for a new CL10b licence.

You must declare the intended use of the licence on your registration form. This will determine if you need to pay, such as to survey hazel dormice for development projects.

Natural England will refund unsuccessful applications.

When you do not need to pay

You do not need to pay if the licence is used for:

  • voluntary purposes – any work you do is unpaid and you are registered with an organisation or charity as a volunteer
  • conservation, science or research purposes, and research related to the protected species is carried out by a student or an employee of an academic institution or research body or an environmental non-governmental organisation

How to pay

You can pay using a bank card. Follow the GOV.UK Pay link on the registration form for new licences.

Read the terms and conditions for paying for a wildlife licence.

References

You need to provide references to support your application when you register for this licence if you:

  • have not held a licence for the species or a similar species for the last 3 years
  • have a licence but want to add new methods

Complete the registration form

Complete the form to register for a new licence or upgrade your licence.

Register for a class licence to survey hazel dormice

Natural England will confirm your registration in writing, usually within 30 working days. You must not carry out any licensed activities until you receive written confirmation of your registration.

Using your licence for another year

If you plan to use your licence for another year, confirm this on your hazel dormouse survey licence return form, when you report actions taken under this licence.

If you’ll use the licence for surveys to inform development projects, you must pay £35 to continue your registration for another year.

How to pay

You can pay using a bank card. Follow the GOV.UK Pay link on the survey licence return form.

Report actions taken under this licence

You must use the hazel dormouse survey licence return form to report any actions taken under this licence. Report your actions between 1 and 31 January each year, even if you’ve taken no action or did not find the target species.

If you need to submit it outside these dates (for exceptional reasons only), email wildlife.scicons@naturalengland.org.uk.

You will be asked:

  • for your licence details
  • whether you did any surveys
  • what survey methods you used
  • for the names of any accredited agents who completed surveys on your behalf
  • if you followed best practice
  • if you want to continue using your licence for another year

For each site where you did surveys, you must record the:

  • location of the site (10 figure Ordnance Survey grid reference and county) 
  • start and end date of the period that surveys took place
  • purpose of your surveys 
  • total number of hazel dormice captured or disturbed by each licensable method at each survey site
  • peak count of hazel dormice seen during a single survey at each site
  • details of any dead or injured dormice found

You must also send:

Submit a hazel dormouse survey licence return

Sign up for emails or print this page

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