The Nature Conservancy Council was a statutory body established by the British government in 1973 to advise on nature conservation and manage national nature reserves across Great Britain. It was founded under the Nature Conservancy Council Act 1973, which transferred responsibilities from the earlier Nature Conservancy, itself created in 1949 as the world's first government body dedicated exclusively to wildlife preservation. The council was dissolved in 1991 and its functions divided among three country agencies — English Nature, Scottish Natural Heritage, and the Countryside Council for Wales — following recommendations set out in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.