Information about JNCC

Introduction

The Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) is the statutory adviser to Government on UK and international nature conservation. Its work contributes to maintaining and enriching biological diversity, conserving geological features and sustaining natural systems.

JNCC delivers the UK and international responsibilities of the Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside (CNCC), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), Natural England, and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The functions that arise from these responsibilities are principally to:

advise Government on the development and implementation of policies for, or affecting, nature conservation in the UK and internationally;
provide advice and disseminate knowledge on nature conservation issues affecting the UK and internationally;
establish common standards throughout the UK for nature conservation, including monitoring, research, and the analysis of results;
commission or support research which it deems relevant to these functions.

The Committee comprises 14 members: a Chair and five independent members appointed by the Secretary of State; the Chairman of CNCC; the Chairmen or deputy Chairmen of CCW, Natural England and SNH; and one other member from each of these bodies.

JNCC, originally established under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, was reconstituted by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006. Support is provided to the JNCC by a company limited by guarantee (JNCC Support Co) that the Committee established in 2005.

Background information is available.

The Committee meets four times a year. Its meetings are held at locations around the UK in June, and in Peterborough in September, December and March. Papers and minutes from the meetings are available, and members of the public may observe meetings by prior arrangement.

Members of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee as at 1 March 2009
Dr Peter Bridgewater	Chair
Professor Lynda Warren	Deputy Chair/Independent
Mr Patrick Casement	Chairman, Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside
Mr Peter Archdale	Council for Nature Conservation and the Countryside
Mr Poul Christensen	Deputy Chairman, Natural England
Mr David Crawley	Scottish Natural Heritage
vacant	Independent
Professor David Hill	Natural England
Mr John Lloyd Jones OBE	Chairman, Countryside Council for Wales
Mr David Pritchard	Independent
Dr Ieuan Joyce	Countryside Council for Wales
Mr Andrew Thin	Chairman, Scottish Natural Heritage
Professor Michael Usher	Independent
Judith Webb	Independent

For policy and administrative purposes the JNCC is classified as equivalent to a non-departmental public body. The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Scottish Executive, the Welsh Assembly Government and the administration in Northern Ireland act as sponsors for the JNCC. The Accountability Framework Document (PDF, 87 kb) Management Statement (PDF,146 kb) and Financial Memorandum (PDF, 196 kb) sets out the roles and responsibilities of these bodies relevant to the exercise of the JNCC’s functions. The Partnership Agreement (PDF, 209kb) clarifies the relationships, ways of working and partnership values of, and between, JNCC, Defra and the devolved administrations.