Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000: Proposed Amendment of Schedules

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A decision made on 12 Sept 2019

Decision Reference: MD-PE-2019-0081

Decision Summary Title :

Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000

Amendment of Schedules 1 (Part 1) and 4

Date of Decision Summary:

04/09/19

Decision Summary Author:

Principal Ecologist and Assistant Director, Growth Housing and the Environment

Decision Summary:

Public or Exempt?

Public

Type of Report:

Oral or Written?

Written

Person Giving

Oral Report:

n/a

Written Report

Title :

MD-WR-Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000 Amendment of Schedules 1 (Part 1) and 4

Date of Written Report:

20 August 2019

Written Report Author:

Principal Ecologist and Assistant Director, Growth Housing and Environment

Written Report :

Public or Exempt?

Public

Subject:

Law Drafting Request – Order amending Schedules 1 (Part 1) and 4 to the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000, to substitute the Grass snake (Natrix natrix) with the Barred grass snake (Natrix helvetica).

Decision(s):

The Minister approved the request for law drafting to draft an Order amending Schedules 1 (Part 1) and 4 to the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000.

Reason(s) for Decision:

To ensure that the correct species of Grass snake is identified as a protected wild animal in the Law.

Resource Implications:

None for provision of draft legislation.

Action required:

Request the Principal Ecologist and Assistant Director to liaise with the Law Draftsman to progress the drafting of the Order.

Signature:

Deputy John Young

Position:

Minister for the Environment

Date Signed:

Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Conservaion of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000: Proposed Amendment of Schedules

Ministerial Decision Report

Minister for the Environment

Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000

Amendment of Schedules 1 (Part 1) and 4

Purpose of Report

The purpose of this report is to request that the Minister authorise the drafting of an Order amending Schedules 1 (Part 1) and 4 to the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000, in order to substitute the Grass snake Natrix natrix with the Barred grass snake Natrix helvetica.

Background

The grass snake Natrix natrix is listed on Schedules 1 and 4 of the Conservation of Wildlife (Jersey) Law 2000.

Modern research methods and DNA analytical techniques sometimes lead to a greater understanding of the relationships within and between species. Recent research has required a change in the taxonomy of some species which are represented locally.

A recent study (Kindler et al., 2017) of grass snakes across their wide range has resulted in the renaming of grass snakes in north-west Europe. Further research (Ward et al., 2017) has confirmed that Jersey’s grass snakes also belong to this newly named species. The species is currently described in the Law as the grass snake Natrix natrix and the naming has changed to the barred grass snake Natrix helvetica (Fritz and Kindler, 2017). In order to ensure that the correct species is identified in the Law it is proposed to amend Schedules 1 and 4 accordingly.

The proposed Conservation of Wildlife (Amendment No.) (Jersey) Order 2014 would confirm the protected status of the populations found in Jersey of the above species for the purposes of the Law.

References

Fritz, U. & Kindler, C. (2017). A very European tale – Britain still has only three snake species, but its grass snake is now assigned to another species (Natrix helvetica). Herpetological Bulletin 141, 44‒45.

Kindler, C., Chèvre, M,. Ursenbacher, S., Böhme, W., Hille, A., Jablonski, D., Vamberger, M. & Fritz, U. (2017): Hybridization patterns in two contact zones of grass snakes reveal a new Central European snake species. Scientific Reports 7, 7378.

Ward, R.J. (2017). Status and conservation of the grass snake in Jersey. PhD Thesis, University of Kent.

Recommendation

The Minister is recommended to approve the proposals given above.

Reasons for Decision

To ensure that the correct species of Grass snake is identified as a protected wild animal in the Law

5. Resource Implications

None for provision of draft legislation.

Report author: Principal Ecologist and Assistant Director, Growth Housing and Environment

Document date : 20th August 2019

Quality Assurance / Review:

MD case file: MD-PE-2019-0081

MD sponsor :