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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the policy paper entitled The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, published on 18 November 2020, how many nature projects have been delivered through point 9, protecting our natural environment, since the publication of that plan.

Point 9 of The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution announced a number of actions government is putting in place to protect our natural environment. Since the publication of the Plan in November 2020, these measures have kick-started a number of nature projects:

159 nature projects have been enabled by our £80 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund, a short-term competitive fund that has created and supported jobs in the nature sector across England. These projects have helped to restore nature, used nature-based solutions to tackle climate change and connected people with the natural environment.

22 projects have been selected for the first round of Landscape Recovery, all of which have pioneering ideas that will improve the rural landscape and reverse the decline in nature. The successful projects will be awarded a share of around £12 million in development grants over the next two years, to help them finalise their delivery plans before starting implementation on the ground.

25 schemes that include natural flood management (NFM) measures have secured approval to enter construction as part of the current Flood and Coastal Risk Investment Programme, with a further 27 forecast due to achieve the same stage by the end of this financial year (31 March 2023). These contribute towards an ambition of 260 schemes that include NFM measures by the end of the programme (March 2027).

Two new Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) (the Yorkshire Wolds and Cheshire Sandstone Ridge) and two extensions to AONBs (the Surrey Hills and Chilterns) are under consideration by Natural England (NE) under our landmark designation programme. This programme is expected to be completed by 2025 and will play a key role in meeting HM Government’s commitment to protect and improve 30% of UK land for nature by 2030.