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 (a) monitor and (b) protect dormice habitats in Surrey Heath constituency.

Defra is not currently monitoring hazel dormice habitats in the Surrey Heath constituency. Surrey’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) will map specific proposals for habitat creation and improvement that will support many species such as hazel dormice, which are considered a priority species in the LNRS.

Hazel dormice, their breeding sites and resting places are legally protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017.