Explanation for Protected Species

Records are provided for legally protected, priority and other notable species.

Notable species are defined as those species with a national or local conservation status, as listed in the draft Wiltshire Notable Species List February 2008 (which can be requested from WSBRC). This list includes those species with legal protection under European or UK Law and Biodiversity Action Plan priority species.

In addition to nationally notable species the WSBRC, in conjunction with the County Recorders, have also added species to the list which are either considered rare in Wiltshire or are important in that Wiltshire plays host to a significant percentage of the countries numbers for that species. This list is still in production and is updated as and when the County recorders provide new information.

Legally protected species comprise those which have some degree of protection in national or international law primarily through the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 (amended in 1988), the European Habitats Directive (1992) and the Birds Directive.

Priority Species are those listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan or within local BAPs published for Wiltshire & Swindon.

So far we have been provided with detailed criteria for the status of plants and beetles in the County by the respective County Recorders.

For plants the list comes from the Wiltshire Rare Plants Register and includes species which fulfill the following conditions:

Internationally rare:	Either endemic to Britain or restricted international distribution as recognised by inclusion on EC Habitats Directive Annex Iib, Ivb or Vb, Berne Convention Appendix 1 or the Conservation (Natural Habitats & c,) Regulations 1994 Schedule 4.
NR: Nationally Rare	Recorded in 1-15 ten kilometre squares in the British Isles
NS: Nationally Scarce	Recorded in 16-100 ten kilometre squares in the British Isles
VC Rare: Rare in either vice county of Wiltshire	In 1-3 sites in either VC7 or 8 (each 'site' is 1 km or more apart)
VC Scarce: Scarce in either vice county of Wiltshire	In 4-10 sites (as above)
IUCN threat Categories:	CR: Critically Endangered EN: Endangered VU: Vulnerable NT: Near Threatened
Other	It is a UK Biodiversity Action Plan Priority Species or its is listed on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 ( as amended)

For beetles the list includes species which fulfill the following criteria:

RDB1 Endangered.	Taxa in danger of extinction. Species known in less than 5 10km in Great Britain
RDB2 Vulnerable.	Species declining throughout their range, in vulnerable habitats or whose population is low
RDB3 Rare	Species existing in 15 or fewer 10 km squares in Great Britain
RDBi. Indeterminate	Taxa that are suspected but not definitely known to belong to any of the above categories (i.e. Endangered, Vulnerable, Rare), because of the lack of information.
RDB5 Endemic.	Taxa which are not known to occur naturally outside Britain. Taxa in this category may also be in any of the other RDB categories or not threatened at all.
RDBk Insufficient known.	Taxa which are suspected but not definitely known to belong to any of the above categories.
Nationally notable: Notable	Species which are estimated to occur within the range of 16 to 100 10km squares (subdivision into Notable A and Notable B is not always possible because there may be insufficient information available).
Nationally Notable: Na	Taxa which do not fall within RDB categories but which are none-the-less uncommon in Great Britain and thought to occur in 30 or fewer 10km squares of the National Grid or, for less well-recorded groups, within seven or fewer vice-counties.
Nationally Notable: Nb	Taxa which do not fall within RDB categories but which are none-the-less uncommon in Great Britain and thought to occur in between 31 and 100 10km squares of the National Grid or, for less-well recorded groups between eight and twenty vice-counties.
County Notable	Species not fitting into the above categories but which are shown to be locally important after the application of similar criteria.
UK BAP	Species for which Action Plans have been/are being written.