Vegetation (NVC)

Vegetation

Protection Under UK Legislation

The legislative provisions in Great Britain for the protection of wild plants are contained primarily in the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, Section 13. The legislation for plant protection extends to land, including land covered by water, and territorial waters. The legislation prohibits any person from intentionally (in Scotland, also recklessly) picking, uprooting or destroying wild plants which are listed on the appropriate Schedule. The legislation also prohibits the uprooting of wild plants not listed on the Schedule, unless the uprooting is carried out by the owner or occupier of the land on which the plant is growing, or by someone having their permission to do so, or unless the action is authorised in writing by the appropriate local authority, although such authorisation does not confer a right of entry to the land.*

*Joint Nature Conservation Committe website January 2007

A list of protected plant species can be found at the following website link:

http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1816

Survey Methods and Timing

Vegetation surveys should be carried out during the summer months (April – August).

Phase I Survey

A Phase I survey consists of a site walkover survey with the compilation of species lists for each habitat type present.

Phase II Survey

Compared to the Phase I survey, Phase II surveys involve greater detail. The relative abundance of each species is recorded using a quadrat and the percentage vegetation cover is visually estimated. This allows the vegetation to be identified to its British National Vegetation Classification (NVC) community.

The NVC system is a means of classifying natural habitat types in Britain according to the vegetation they contain. The NVC is based on a compendium of five books by Cambridge University Press which detail the incidence of plant species in five major habitat types in the United Kingdom's natural environment. These books are the first systematic and comprehensive account of the vegetation types of this country. They cover all natural, semi-natural and major artificial habitats in Great Britain (but not Northern Ireland), representing fifteen years of research by leading plant ecologists.

Links

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Plantlife International

Disclaimer

Although we have taken great care to ensure that our information and advice is correct, we cannot accept any responsibility for any incorrect information, loss or damage incurred arising from the use of the information published on our web site. For further advice, detailed surveys and quotations please contact ECOSA.

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