[2] Chapter 2 (sections 17–25) establishes as a public body the Commission for Rural Communities, which had been created in 2005 as a division of the Countryside Agency.

Subsequently, a statement in June 2010 by Caroline Spelman led to the abolition of the commission.

Section 40 of the NERC Act places a duty to conserve biodiversity on public authorities in England.

It requires local authorities and government departments to have regard to the purposes of conserving biodiversity in a manner that is consistent with the exercise of their normal functions such as policy and decision-making.

[5] Section 42 similarly required the National Assembly for Wales to publish equivalent lists of priority species and habitats for that country.