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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to preserve biodiversity of the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Biodiversity is a devolved matter. In England, we will take forward our manifesto commitment to produce a 25 year strategy for the environment, which will include biodiversity. Over the next five years we will spend £3 billion from the Common Agricultural Policy to enhance England’s countryside, enabling us, among other things, to clean up our rivers and lakes, protect our stonewalls and hedges, and help our bees to thrive. We will ensure that our public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation and plant another 11 million trees.

Since 2010, we have created over 67,000 hectares of priority habitats such as arable field margins, wetlands and woodlands. We have also maintained over 95% of our Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – our most important sites for wildlife – in favourable or recovering condition and put in place Marine Conservation Zones to supplement the stretches of our sea that are already marine protected areas.

With regards to an assessment of the country’s biodiversity, our indicators are updated each year and are available online: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/england-biodiversity-indicators.