Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to encourage wildflower meadows throughout the country.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
We are taking action to encourage wildflower meadows by managing designated sites, providing incentives for habitat management and creation, and forging strong partnerships with landowners, communities and conservation bodies.
Our agri-environment schemes provide incentives for creation and management of wildlife-rich habitat, including meadows. Since 2011, we have initiated creation of over 130,000 hectares of wildlife rich habitat, including wildflower meadows. Our new Environmental Land Management scheme will reward farmers and land managers for delivering environmental outcomes such as conserving and restoring such habitats.
Our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) provide protection for approximately two thirds of the total extent of 110,000 ha of semi-natural grassland Priority Habitat in England. Natural England’s 2018-19 SSSI designation programme identifies a further 12 sites containing important wildflower-rich grasslands. The 25 Year Environment Plan commits us to restoring 75% of SSSI areas to good condition.
We work with partners to support the recovery of threatened species and their habitats. For example, Natural England are working with landowners and conservation organisations on the Back from the Brink programme including on the ‘Limestone’s Living Legacies’ project, restoring a network of limestone grassland sites in the West Midlands.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the contribution of wildflower meadows to the success of the various bee populations in the UK.
Answered by Thérèse Coffey
Wildflowers provide pollen and nectar resources essential for sustaining wild and honey bees. Wildflower meadows therefore provide vital habitats for bee populations.
Published scientific research has established that range contractions in many of our bee species are linked to the loss of species-rich habitats such as wildflower meadows. It also found that bee populations are more diverse on farms where wildflowers are sown or in landscapes with greater densities of wildflower meadows and other species-rich habitats.
We also know that when we put wildflowers back, bees respond. Landscape-scale studies of wild bumblebee populations in farmed landscapes, led by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology and part-funded by Defra, revealed that providing flower-rich habitat enhances the long-term survival of bumblebee families.
Through our programme of agri-environment monitoring, we are currently evaluating how sowing wildflowers on farms is supporting bee populations.
Asked by: Steve Baker (Conservative - Wycombe)
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 ensure that glyphosate continues to be available for use by farmers after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by George Eustice
Glyphosate is important to British farming and there would be real difficulties if it were no longer available. UK and EU experts have identified no safety concerns which would preclude the continuing use of glyphosate.
Defra considers that decisions on the use of pesticides should be based on a careful scientific assessment of the risks, with the aim of achieving a high level of protection for people and the environment.