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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's planned budget is for the Darwin Plus programme in financial year 2025-26.

The Darwin Plus budget for 2025-26 is maintaining spending levels to support biodiversity across the UK Overseas Territories. This includes funding to sustain existing projects and award new projects. The Secretary of State announced funding to 43 new Darwin Plus projects with a lifetime value of £7.9 million in her speech at Countdown to COP30 on 9 October.

Funding for Darwin Plus beyond March 2026 remains subject to Defra business planning processes. Updates on future funding rounds will be published on the Darwin Plus website as soon as more information becomes available.