The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (also known as CROW)

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 will extend the public's ability to enjoy the countryside whilst also providing safeguards for landowners and occupiers. It will create a new statutory right of access to open country and registered common land, modernise the rights of way system, give greater protection to Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), provide better management arrangements for Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs), and strengthen wildlife enforcement legislation. The Act and information about it can be found on the DEFRA website see http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/cl/bill/factsheet/index.htm#4 for summary fact sheets.

Species protection

[Part III of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 also includes measures to give greater protection to wildlife, by strengthening the legal protection for threatened species and bringing up-to-date the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. A list of species for England covered in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 can be downloaded from the DEFRA website @ http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-countryside/cl/habitats/index.htm. Plans for the protection of individual species are included in a series of Species Action Plans under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan to find out, which species are included visit http://www.ukbap.org.uk/species.htm.]