Terms and Conditions of Individual Associate Membership

1. Associate Membership Applications
  1. Applications for associate membership will be considered by the BWRC who have the right to refuse applications.
  2. By submitting an application form by email, the Associate Member is deemed to have signed the application form.
  3. All information provided by you to us must be true and accurate at the point of applying. In the event of a change of circumstances such as moving jobs, change of contact details you must notify the BWRC by phone, email or in writing so that our records are up to date.
2. Membership Payments, Renewals and Cancellations
  1. Associate Membership is £15 per person per calendar year starting on 1st April. Associate Membership will be activated at point of approval of the application but payment must be received within 30 days of application.
  2. Payment can be made by cheque, BACS or Standing Order. If Associate Membership payment remains outstanding we will notify you by telephone, email or letter.
  3. It is the member’s responsibility to advise the BWRC of their intention not to renew. Subscription payments not received within one month of becoming due will result in the membership being considered lapsed and all services or benefits may be suspended pending payment. However, Associate Membership charges will continue to accrue, until resignation is received in writing, subject to the cancellation procedure outlined below. To cancel your membership you will need to notify us in writing stating a reason which will be recorded for internal use only. Refunds will not be given for cancelled memberships.
Individual Associate Membership rights and responsibilities.
  1. Associate individual non-voting membership of the BWRC does not count as membership for legal purposes; therefore Associate Members do not have any voting rights, legal obligations to act in the interests of the BWRC, or any liability to contribute to the assets of the BWRC on dissolution.
  2. Associate membership belongs to the individual and not to the organisation regardless of who pays for the membership. Any dispute arising from this must be resolved by the member and their organisation. You will be issued with a membership number which you should use when calling us to help identify you quickly.
  3. It is the Associate Member’s responsibility to keep their membership number confidential. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw Membership or to prevent any Member from renewing if the Member is misusing the membership benefits (for example, allowing someone else to use the benefits of their membership package).
4. Associate Membership Benefits
  1. Associate Member benefits are only available if subscription payments are up to date.
  2. Associate Member benefits may change without notice.
  3. Associate Members are permitted to use the BWRC Associate Member logo (not the Associate Organisation logo) for the purposes of self-promotion, but not for the promotion of a wider organisation.
  4. If an Associate Member is found to have contravened the terms and conditions stated in 4.3 membership may be terminated by the BWRC without prior warning.
5. Terminating Membership
  1. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership or to prevent any Associate Member from renewing membership if the Member brings the BWRC into disrepute.
  2. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership if the Associate Member is deemed to have misused the membership privileges.
6. Variation of Terms & Conditions
  1. These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. If they are revised, we will post or email the revised version to you. It will be your responsibility to keep up-to date with all such changes and your continued membership shall be deemed acceptance of any changes to these terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions of Individual Associate Membership

1. Associate Organisation Membership (AOM) Applications
  1. Applications for AOM will be considered by the BWRC who have the right to refuse applications.
  2. By submitting an application form by email, the AOM is deemed to have signed the application form.
  3. All information provided by you to us must be true and accurate at the point of applying. In the event of a change of circumstances the AOM must notify the BWRC by phone, email or in writing so that our records are up to date.
  4. Associate Organisations are required to provide evidence of engagement in external staff and/or volunteer development relevant to wildlife rehabilitation (this must be external to the associate organisation but does not have to be a BWRC event). BWRC reserves the right to withhold/ withdraw membership in the absence of adequate evidence of CPD (a minimum of one event every two years).
2. Associate Organisation Membership Payments, Renewals and Cancellations
  1. Associate Organisation Membership costs £75 per organisation per calendar year starting on 1st April. Membership will be activated once the application has been approved and the first payment has been received.
  2. Payment can be made by cheque, BACS or Standing Order. If Associate Membership payment remains outstanding we will notify you by telephone, email or letter.
  3. It is the AOM’s responsibility to advise the BWRC of their intention not to renew. Subscription payments not received within one month of becoming due will result in the membership being considered lapsed and all services or benefits may be suspended pending payment. However, AOM charges will continue to accrue, until resignation is received in writing, subject to the cancellation procedure outlined below. To cancel your membership you will need to notify us in writing stating a reason which will be recorded for internal use only. Refunds will not be given for cancelled memberships.
3. Associate Membership Rights
  1. AOM of the BWRC does not count as membership for legal purposes; therefore Associate Organisations do not have any voting rights, legal obligations to act in the interests of the BWRC, or any liability to contribute to the assets of the BWRC on dissolution.
  2. AOM belongs to the organisation regardless of who pays for the membership. Any dispute arising from this must be resolved within the Associate Organisation. The Organisation will be issued with a membership number which you should use when calling us to help identify you quickly.
  3. It is the Associate Organisation’s responsibility to keep their membership number confidential. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw Membership or to prevent any Member from renewing if the Member is misusing the membership benefits (for example, allowing someone from outside of the organisation to use the benefits of their membership package).
4. Associate Membership Benefits
  1. Associate Organisations are permitted to use the BWRC Associate Organisation logo for the purposes of self-promotion on any of their organisational materials, including website.
  2. Associate Organisations are entitled to purchase an unlimited number of tickets for BWRC events at the membership price, providing that those tickets are for the exclusive use of paid staff or regular volunteers for the Associate Organisation
  3. BWRC will provide e-mail notifications to up to 10 e-mail addresses within the associate organisation. The associate organisation is then free to circulate BWRC notifications to other staff and volunteer members of the associate organisation.
  4. BWRC may agree to promote events organised by the Associate Organisation if asked to do so, at the discretion of the BWRC board of trustees
  5. AOM benefits are only available if subscription payments are up to date.
  6. AOM benefits may change without notice.
5. Terminating Membership
  1. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership or to prevent any Associate Organisation from renewing membership if the Associate Organisation risks bringing the BWRC into disrepute.
  2. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership if the Associate Organisation is deemed to have misused the membership privileges.
  3. If an Associate Organisation is found to have contravened the terms and conditions stated in 5.1 and 5.2, above membership may be terminated by the BWRC without prior warning.
1. Variation of Terms & Conditions
  1. These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. If they are revised, we will post or email the revised version to you. It will be your responsibility to keep up-to date with all such changes and your continued membership shall be deemed acceptance of any changes to these terms and conditions.

No Fields Found.
No Fields Found.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended)

This is the primary piece of legislation in England and Wales for protecting wildlife. All birds and a variety of other plant and animal species are protected under this Act, BUT NOT ALL. The Act also includes sections relating to Sites of Scientific Interest, National Parks and countryside access and rights of way. Note that Scotland has its own legislation relating to wildlife, but there is still some crossover with English legislation.

The Act has been amended on a number of occasions, most notably by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) Natural Environments and Rural Communities Act (2006) and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations (2010). However, not all these pieces of legislation will be discussed here.

This legislation makes it an offence to deliberately take, kill or injure a protected wild animal, or to intentionally, or recklessly, disturb such an animal in its place of shelter, or to damage, destroy or obstruct access to its place of shelter. It is also an offence to be in possession of a protected animal, live or dead.

However the Act also includes various defences. Some are discussed below, under Schedules, but the important ones, as they relate to wildlife rehabilitation, are Part 1, Section 4 (2) a and b for birds and Part 1, Section 10, (3) a and b for animals listed on Schedule 5 of the Act.

Wildlife and Countryside Act, Part 1, Section 4:

(2) Notwithstanding anything in the provisions of section 1 or any order made under section 3, a person shall not be guilty of an offence by reason of—

(a) the taking of any wild bird if he shows that the bird had been disabled otherwise than by his unlawful act and was taken solely for the purpose of tending it and releasing it when no longer disabled;
(b) the killing of any wild bird if he shows that the bird had been so seriously disabled otherwise than by his unlawful act that there was no reasonable chance of its recovering;

Wildlife and Countryside Act, Part 1, Section 10:

(3) Notwithstanding anything in section 9, a person shall not be guilty of an offence by reason of—

(a) the taking of any such animal if he shows that the animal had been disabled otherwise than by his unlawful act and was taken solely for the purpose of tending it and releasing it when no longer disabled;
(b) the killing of any such animal if he shows that the animal had been so seriously disabled otherwise than by his unlawful act that there was no reasonable chance of its recovering;

These defences allow anybody to pick up and treat a protected wild animal for the purposes of tending and releasing it, or, to euthanase it to prevent further suffering.

Another important section for rehabilitators to be aware of the Section 14, which prohibits the release of certain animals into the wild:

Wildlife and Countryside Act, Part 1, Section 14. Introduction of new species etc.

(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person releases or allows to escape into the wild any animal which—

(a) is of a kind which is not ordinarily resident in and is not a regular visitor to Great Britain in a wild state; or
(b) is included in Part I of Schedule 9,

he shall be guilty of an offence.

Schedules

The Act contains a number of Schedules, relating to particular sections of the Act. The following are of direct interest to the rehabilitator.

Schedule 4 lists species of birds that must be registered and ringed if kept in captivity – this includes rehabilitation. There are General Licences that allow certain people to keep these birds for a certain period of time, e.g. a vet may keep such a bird for six weeks, before they are required to register it.

Schedule 5 lists the species of animals, other than birds, that are protected by the Act.

Schedule 9 lists animals that are thought to be living in the UK, but whose release would be an offence under Section 14, unless you have a licence to do so.

Licences

Licences may be issued under Section 16 of the Act for a variety of purposes; for instance it is possible to apply for a licence to release a rehabilitated grey squirrel, but you may not necessarily be permitted to do so, depending on where you live etc. The licences are issued by the statutory nature conservation organisations (SNCOs), such as Natural England, Natural Resources, Wales and Scottish Natural Heritage.

Licences come with specified conditions; any breach of these conditions is an offence, so if you should obtain a licence for an activity, ensure that you read all the conditions attached to it.

General Licences

General Licences allow certain activities to be undertaken that would otherwise be unlawful and rehabilitation is one example. They cover a variety of activities that are considered to be low risk and where the likelihood is that any application for a licence would be granted. This therefore reduces the bureaucratic workload.

No application is required for a General Licence, they can just be downloaded from the appropriate website. General Licences also come with conditions which must be strictly adhered to. They are reissued every year, and are subject to revision, so the BWRC recommends that you check the relevant websites to see if a licence has been updated, before you undertake any activity covered by such a licence.

Examples of General Licenses for the rehabilitator are:

WML GL07 – To keep birds of species listed on Schedule 4 bird for the purposes of rehabilitation.

WML GL08 – To keep birds of species listed on Schedule 4 bird for the purposes of veterinary treatment (note the conditions are different to L07).

WML GL22 – To permit the release of native bird species listed on Schedule 9.

Further information on licensing in England can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/general-licences-for-wildlife-management

For Wales:
http://naturalresourceswales.gov.uk/apply-and-buy/uk-protected-species-licensing/?lang=en

For Scotland:
http://www.snh.gov.uk/protecting-scotlands-nature/species-licensing/