# The Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2025, Article 2: Interpretation


(1) In this Order—
“the 1981 Act” means the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981;
“the 2017 Regulations” means the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017;
“the 2018 Order” means the Wildlife Licence Charges (England) Order 2018;
“application” includes a notification to Natural England under a class licence of a particular site where an applicant intends to carry out licensed activities, and in this context “applicant” means a person intending to rely on the class licence;
“bats” means all species of—
(a) horseshoe bats (Rhinolophidae);
(b) typical bats (Vespertilionidae);
“complex application” means an application for a licence which requires Natural England to spend, prior to its issue, 5 hours or more assessing the impact on conservation of the licensable activities;
“protected species or habitat” means—
(a) species protected under—
(i) Schedule 1, Part 1 of Schedule 2, Schedule 5, Schedule 6 or Schedule 8 to the 1981 Act;
(ii) the Protection of Badgers Act 1992; or
(iii) Schedule 2, Schedule 4 or Schedule 5 to the 2017 Regulations;
(b) species and habitats set out in the biodiversity list published by the Secretary of State in August 2010 under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006; and
“simple application” means an application for a licence which requires Natural England to spend, prior to its issue, fewer than 5 hours assessing the impact on conservation of the licensable activities.
(2) In this Order, the issue of a licence includes—
(a) renewal or modification of a licence;
(b) registration under a class licence for the purpose of reliance on that licence;
(c) authorisation under a licence to carry out licensed activities at a particular site.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/236/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/wildlife-licence-charges-england-order-2025/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.