Natural England

General licences are issued to allow certain actions to be carried out that would otherwise be illegal under the legislation, without the need for people to apply for a specific licence.

However, if you plan to act under the authority of a general licence, you must be satisfied that you are acting within the provisions of that general licence and therefore the law. This means that it is your responsibility to read the conditions attached to licence to ensure that your situation is covered, and to comply with the conditions.

General licences are issued for a range of activities, including the sale, exhibition and possession of protected species, the investigation of crimes, the rehabilitation of injured animals and the control of certain species that are, at times, in conflict with people's interests (e.g. air safety, damage to crops and the conservation of other species).

The full series of general licences is listed below. (Please note our website has been updated with the 2009 series of licences , but the 2008 series of licences remains valid until 31 December 2008. Please contact us on 0845 6014523 if you wish to obtain a copy of one of those.)

Natural England has launched a consultation on general licences. The closing date for responses is 13 March 2009. Click here for more information www.naturalengland.org.uk/consultations

Licence	Ref no.
General licence for the trapping and marking of shrews	WML Gen-L01
General licence for possession of dead specimens for museums, research and educational establishments	WML Gen-L02
General licence for possession of dead specimens by members of the Guild of Taxidermists	WML Gen-L03
General licence for people submitting bats to the VLA for Rabies testing	WML Gen-L04
Licence to kill or take certain birds to prevent serious damage or disease	WML Gen-L05
Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve air safety	WML Gen-L06
Blank licence return for general licence WML Gen-LO6, preservation of air safety	WML Gen-L06 return
Licence to kill or take certain birds to preserve public health or public safety	WML Gen-L07
Licence to kill or take certain birds to conserve wild birds	WML Gen-L08
Licence to keep certain wild birds for the purposes of rehabilitation	WML Gen-L09
Licence to keep certain birds for the purposes of providing veterinary treatment	WML Gen-L10
Licence to keep certain birds, pending legal proceedings	WML Gen-L11
Licence for laboratories to retain blood and other tissue samples	WML Gen-L12
Licence to permit the incubation of eggs and rearing of chicks of Schedule 4 birds	WML Gen-L13
Licence to take birds' eggs	WML Gen-L14
Licence to take eggs of Anas Platyrhynchos (Mallard Duck)	WML Gen-L15
Licence to permit the competitive showing of certain captive bred live wild birds - birds that do not require a ring	WML Gen-L16
Licence to permit the competitive showing of certain captive bred live wild birds - birds that require a ring	WML Gen-L17
Licence to permit the sale and exhibition of captive bred Mealy Redpoll	WML Gen-L18
Licence to allow the keeping of certain birds in show cages for training purposes	WML Gen-L19
Licence to release certain rehabilitated Schedule 9 species	WML Gen-L20
Licence to sell dead Schedule 3, Part III wild birds and their derivatives	WML Gen-L21
Licence to sell dead birds	WML Gen-L22
Licence to sell certain species of live wildfowl	WML Gen-L23
Licence to permit the sale of certain captive bred native species of live bird	WML Gen-L24
Licence to sell live birds listed on Annex A of Council Regulation (EC) No. 338/97	WML Gen-L25
Licence to sell certain species of amphibian	WML Gen-L26
Licence to take/kill Edible Dormice (Glis glis) using a prohibited method to preserve public health or public safety and/or to prevent serious damage to crops, fruit, foodstuffs for livestock and growing timber.	WML Gen-L27
Licence to sell certain dead animals	WML Gen-L28
Licence to kill, or take Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis), including the taking, damaging or destruction of their nests or the taking or destruction of their eggs	WML Gen-L29
Licence to release native bird species listed on Schedule 9	WML Gen-L30