Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with her overseas counterparts on proposals to protect the Last Ice Area and its polar bear population.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Defra has had no recent discussions with our overseas counterparts on proposals to protect the Last Ice Area. We were however pleased that polar bear range countries committed to the first-ever circumpolar, 10 year action plan in 2015 to protect and manage the bears and their habitat. The UK supports this collaborative approach as the way forward to ensure the long term conservation of the species.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her EU counterparts about preventing whale meat and other whale-based products from passing through EU ports.
Answered by George Eustice
The transit of whale meat through UK and EU ports remains a point of concern for the UK. Alongside other EU Member States, we have continued to push the European Commission to look at the scope for collective action within the EU.
This is a complex issue involving complying with international trade rules, however, leaving the EU will present us with an opportunity to consider this issue from a different perspective.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Chinese counterpart on preventing the breeding of tigers for commercial purposes.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I met the Chinese delegation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 17th Conference of Parties, including the Vice Minister of the State Forestry Administration, in London on 21 September 2016 immediately prior to the Conference. Although discussions did not specifically include the commercial breeding of tigers, we did discuss the conservation of a number of species including tigers.
At the Conference the UK, working with Member States of the European Union and other countries, achieved strong outcomes for tigers including the agreement of proposals to scrutinise captive breeding facilities.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the National Wildlife Crime Unit in tackling wildlife crime and protecting endangered species.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Crawley, Henry Smith, on 7 July 2016, PQ UIN905727.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent further reductions in the world populations of elephants, rhinos and other species.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The Government works with a range of governments and international organisations on the conservation of endangered species, including elephants and rhino, through a number of fora. This includes the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which protects around 35,000 species from unsustainable international trade. I attended the CITES Conference of Parties held in Johannesburg from 24 September to 5 October 2016, where the UK, working with the Member States of the European Union and other countries, played a major role in achieving strong outcomes for a number of species, including elephants and rhinos, that will help ensure their survival in the wild.
Poaching is a major threat to elephants, rhino and other species and the UK has played a leading role in efforts to combat the illegal wildlife trade. The UK was represented by the Secretary of State at the Illegal Wildlife Trade Vietnam conference, on 17-18 November 2016 in Hanoi, where new concrete actions to deliver on the commitments agreed at the previous London and Botswana conferences in 2014 and 2015 were secured. In addition, the Secretary of State announced an additional £13 million for measures tackling the illegal wildlife trade, doubling our investment.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with the government of India on the conservation of Asian elephants and the potential merits of banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Prime Ministers David Cameron and Narendra Modi met in London in November 2015 and issued a joint statement in which they resolved to work together to improve protection for both captive and wild Asian elephants. There have been no discussions with the Indian Government specifically on banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions or preventing the capturing and breaking of young elephants for use in the tourism industry. However, further official level discussions have taken place with the Indian High Commission to discuss the joint statement and discuss specific areas on which we might work constructively beyond international fora such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Within CITES the UK has led on securing agreement to measures to increase focus on protecting Asian elephants. These include the strengthening of national legislation and enforcement to combat illegal trade in live Asian elephants, for range countries to develop strategies to manage their captive domestic populations and to develop and apply a regional registration and marking system covering domestic Asian elephants.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to support the Indian government in protecting Asian elephants.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
Prime Ministers David Cameron and Narendra Modi met in London in November 2015 and issued a joint statement in which they resolved to work together to improve protection for both captive and wild Asian elephants. There have been no discussions with the Indian Government specifically on banning the use of elephants in tourist attractions or preventing the capturing and breaking of young elephants for use in the tourism industry. However, further official level discussions have taken place with the Indian High Commission to discuss the joint statement and discuss specific areas on which we might work constructively beyond international fora such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
Within CITES the UK has led on securing agreement to measures to increase focus on protecting Asian elephants. These include the strengthening of national legislation and enforcement to combat illegal trade in live Asian elephants, for range countries to develop strategies to manage their captive domestic populations and to develop and apply a regional registration and marking system covering domestic Asian elephants.
Asked by: David Mackintosh (Conservative - Northampton South)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to promote a ban on trade of captive lion parts.
Answered by Baroness Coffey
The UK takes the conservation of lions seriously. There are strict controls in place for international trade in wild lion parts; however the Government currently has no plans to promote a ban on trade of captive lion parts.