Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to help preserve penguin populations in the Overseas Territories.

Many protections already exist for penguins in the Overseas Territories. These include the Marine Protected Area around South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands, and the Antarctic Treaty System. The Government also supports biodiversity through Darwin Plus which, since 2012, has invested over £47 million in over 260 projects. Projects have aimed to conserve northern rockhopper penguins on Tristan da Cunha, and improve native tussac grassland to improve breeding habitat for Magellanic penguins in the Falkland Islands. In the UK-OT Joint Declaration, we committed to strengthen our partnership to protect and sustainably manage our unique and globally significant environments.