Petition · past parliament · Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Parliament to have a vote on government review of protected species status.
Closed
40 signatures
What the petition asks
Proposals in their required five yearly review to change the status of protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (WCA) 1981 would reduce protection to only “in imminent danger of extinction”. Parliament must be given time to debate and vote on this damaging proposal.
The government has published documents about these proposed changes on an obscure website. It is hoping to make these changes, which would severely threaten many of the UK’s rare and endangered species, without proper parliamentary scrutiny.
This would enable developers, road building and rail construction such as HS2 to destroy vulnerable habitats without any accountability or challenge. What Boris Johnston called “the newt counting delays…” Parliament must hold this government to account.
This would enable developers, road building and rail construction such as HS2 to destroy vulnerable habitats without any accountability or challenge. What Boris Johnston called “the newt counting delays…” Parliament must hold this government to account.
Timeline
| 15 Jul 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 15 Jan 2022 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
40
Status
Closed
Department
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Opened
15 Jul 2021
Closed
15 Jan 2022
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.