Wildlife Protection Law as a Barrier to Sustainable Drainage Wetlands and Pools in the UK and Elsewhere,

SUDS systems represent a novel (or rediscovered) method of dealing with drainage from developed areas in a way which is likely to produce wildlife conservation benefits along with the flood control benefits that they primarily aim to achieve. Unfortunately in the UK the wildlife protection legislation, which should be seeking to maximise the conservation value produced by SUDS systems apparently, serves to discourage the use and management of such systems for this purpose. The major problem is the failure of the legislation to recognise that the use of SUDS systems by such protected species as the great crested newt (Triturus cristatus) represents an addition to the conservation baseline and that there is a case for providing an easy and pre-emptive legal mechanism to allow the maintenance and further development of SUDS systems. This should remove the fear that the drainage properties of the system will have to be compromised because of the presence of a population of organisms which may be given more protection than their local significance demands. This paper discusses these issues and proposes a possible solution which may also serve as a model in jurisdictions outside the UK.