Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to protect (a) primary rainforests and (b) the species that live in them.

Stopping deforestation is essential to protect biodiversity, tackle climate change and promote sustainable economic development. DFID works to address the underlying causes of deforestation, such as stopping illegal logging and related corruption, and ending unsustainable practices in the production of palm oil, cocoa and other agricultural commodities. This helps to protect habitats for the species that live in forests.

Work to tackle deforestation is funded through the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate programme (£250m, 2011-21), which is tackling illegal logging and promoting trade in legal timber; Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (£107m, 2015-23), which works with companies to develop new and sustainable approaches to growing agricultural commodities, which protect forests and provide sustainable livelihoods; and through the Indonesia country programme.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF), to which the UK is a major donor, also plays a major role in protecting species which live in tropical rainforests. For example, in June the GEF approved $88 million of funding to the Amazon Sustainable Landscapes Programme and $57 million of funding to the Congo Basin Sustainable Landscapes Impact Programme to protect rainforests and the species that live in them.