Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to create more habitat for nature in the UK.

The Environment Act 2021 requires a new legally binding target to be set to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. This world leading target will drive wide-ranging actions to deliver nature recovery. We know that to meet it we will need large-scale habitat creation and restoration and that by improving connectivity we will maximise the benefits of newly created and restored habitat.

The Environment Act introduced a number of policies that will support these outcomes. Biodiversity net gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRS) and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities will work together to drive action, including to create or restore habitats that enable wildlife to recover and thrive, while conservation covenants will help secure habitat for the long term. LNRSs will provide the spatial framework for the Nature Recovery Network, which will guide creation, restoration and connectivity of habitats and sites to create mosaics of wildlife-rich habitat; and incentivise private partnerships.

The Environmental Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship schemes help land managers deliver environmental benefits on their land. This includes the creation of habitats for wildlife including birds, small mammals and pollinators. Agreement holders can choose from actions ranging from general habitat creation benefitting a variety of species, such as hedgerow or wildflower plot creation, or actions to target specific species, such as skylark plots.

The Nature for Climate Fund provides £750 million for the creation, restoration and management of woodland and peatland habitats.  The Green Recovery Challenge Fund is estimated to deliver 0.6mha of habitat creation and restoration within & outside SSSIs.  We set a target to raise at least £500 million in private finance to support nature's recovery every year by 2027 in England, rising to more than £1 billion by 2030.  This includes investment in protected sites and other landscape-scale action through delivery of the Nature Recovery Network.