Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what proportion of the known habitat of the mole spider is estimated to have been destroyed during the construction of the airport on St Helena.

When construction started at the airport site there were three known mole spider communities within the Airport Development Area. One community lost 0.1% of its habitat, one community’s habitat remained untouched and the final community lost 90% of its habitat. Mitigation measures were implemented to reduce the effects of the losses on this last community. This included the creation of similar habitat where subsequent monitoring shows that the mole spider has successfully migrated into this and adjacent areas.