The Government’s 2021 code and guidance for species reintroductions form a valuable tool, but it must be revised and updated to maintain high project standards, for example in relation to assisted colonisation, disease risks, exit strategies, impact assessments, large predators and herbivores, and more effective stakeholder consultation. The England Species Reintroductions Taskforce, and its Stakeholder Forum, should feed into this process.

The Government’s 2021 code and guidance for species reintroductions form a valuable tool, but it must be revised and updated to maintain high project standards, for example in relation to assisted colonisation, disease risks, exit strategies, impact assessments, large predators and herbivores, and more effective stakeholder consultation. The England Species Reintroductions Taskforce, and its Stakeholder Forum, should feed into this process. Type: conclusion | Number: 16 | Paragraph: 45 | Response status: not_accepted Government response: The government’s ‘Reintroductions and other conservation translocations: code and guidance for England’ is based on international best practice guidance, and was first published in 2021. We do not consider the need to revise it at this time.