Species licensing charges

We are seeking your views on plans to update our charges for some of our permits, licences, and compliance activities for 2025-2026.

 

The consultation will close on 12 January 2025.

We are introducing charges to some species licences. Licences will be subject to a charge unless one of our waivers apply.

Survey, science, education, photography, and conservation licences

We will not charge for licences for voluntary, conservation, science, research, or educational work.

We will charge for licences for any other use, such as for surveys for development works or commercial photography.

Your licence will not be valid for any paid commercial work if we issue your licence under a waiver.

The following licences carry a fixed charge of £137 unless a waiver applies:

  • licence to kill, take, disturb, or possess any wild animal, including bats, for survey, conservation, project, and temporary possession
  • species survey licence renewal
  • licence to disturb, take possess or kill wild birds for scientific, education and conservation purposes and for the purposes of ringing or marking or examining any ring or mark and for photographic purpose

Amendments to the above licences have a fixed charge of £76. You will not have to pay this if a waiver applies to your licence.

If you applied for your licence before we introduced the charges, you will need to pay for any amendments, unless you are exempt under one of our waivers.

Development licences

We will charge for licences if you are carrying out any local or major developments on land or in the marine environment. 

We will charge an hourly rate for any major developments, based on the scale and complexity of the application submitted.

We will not charge for licences if you are carrying out:

If you are not sure which category your works comes under, you can ask your local planning officer, or read the Welsh Governments developer management manual.

There is a fixed charge of £994 for licences that enable local developments.

There is a flexible charge of £125 per hour (rounded up to nearest 15 minutes) for licences if you are carrying out any major developments or national significant infrastructure projects, including those in the marine environment.

Amendments to the above licences have a fixed charge of £76 for admin changes such as a change to the licensee, ecologist, accredited agents or to personal details. All other amendments are considered as complex and will be charged at an hourly rate of £125. You will not have to pay this if a waiver applies to your licence.

If you applied for your licence before we introduced the charges, you will need to pay for any amendments, unless you are exempt under one of our waivers.

Release a non-native species for biological control purposes

There is a flexible charge of £125 per hour (rounded up to nearest 15 minutes) for licences release a non-native species for biological control.

We will not charge for licences if you are releasing a non-native species:

  • for a specific conservation project
  • to control a non-native species in the wild

Forestry and woodland operations requiring species licences

We will charge for licences if you are carrying out any commercial forestry activity.

We will charge an hourly rate based on the scale and complexity of the application submitted.

There is no charge for licences where the primary purpose:

  • are for conservation works
  • are necessary for health and safety
  • prevent the spread of disease
  • or any other purpose covered by a waiver

There is a flexible charge of £125 per hour (rounded up to nearest 15 minutes) if you are carrying out any commercial forestry activity.

Amendments to the above licences have a fixed charge of £76 for admin changes such as a changes to the licensee, ecologist, accredited agents or to personal details. All other amendments are considered as complex and will be charged at an hourly rate of £125. You will not have to pay this if a waiver applies to your licence.

If you applied for your licence before we introduced the charges, you will need to pay for any amendments, unless you are exempt under one of our waivers.

Guidance on charges for major developments and commercial forestry

The time taken to assess an application will be affected by several factors, instances which can lead to increased costs include:

  • works on multiple buildings / sites and involving different species
  • works during sensitive times for species
  • linear infrastructure / forestry operations that could lead to habitat fragmentation
  • projects involving new, unusual or contentious methods
  • an application placed on hold because of incomplete or inaccurate details
  • phased or multi-plot developments / multi coupe forestry works
  • amendment applications with non-compliance issues on the original licence
  • applications that affect a protected site
  • amendment requests received during the decision-making process

Possession, sale, or exchange of protected species licences

If your licence is for commercial purposes, this will be subject to a charge.

The following licences carry a fixed charge of £137, unless a waiver applies:

  • licence for the possession of species
  • licence to transport, sell or exchange a protected species (or derivative)
  • licence to sell or exchange any wild plant (or derivative)
  • licence to pick, collect, cut, uproot, or destroy a wild plant

There is no charge for a licence to possess dead specimens for research, educational purposes or for the purposes of any public exhibition.

Badger licences

We are responsible for issuing five types of badger licences.

We will charge for licences if you are carrying out any local or major developments.

We will not charge for the following licences:

  • licence for the purpose of science, education, and conservation, ringing or marking
  • licence to interfere with badger setts for the purpose of preservation or archaeological investigation of a scheduled monument
  • licence to interfere with badger setts for the purpose of controlling foxes to protect wildlife
  • licence to interfere with badger setts for the purpose of investigating offences

We will not charge for licences if you are carrying out:

There is a fixed charge of £637 for licences.

Amendments to the above licences have a fixed charge of £76 for admin changes such as a changes to the licensee, ecologist, accredited agents or to personal details. All other amendments are considered as complex and will be charged at an hourly rate of £125. You will not have to pay this if a waiver applies to your licence.

Withdrawn or rejected applications

We will not charge you if:

  • we reject your application
  • you withdraw your application

If you withdraw your application before we make a decision on your licence application, there will be no charge.

How to pay

When we receive your application, we will let you know how much you will need to pay. The amount we will charge will depend upon your application.  If we issue you with a licence, we will then send you details of how to pay.

Species licensing charges are exempt from VAT.

If you fail to pay within 28 days of us issuing you with a licence, we reserve the right to chase the outstanding fee as a civil debt. We will also revoke your licence for non-payment.

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