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

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking (1) to prevent any further loss of wetlands, and (2) to restore wetlands to their natural state.

In England we have set four legally binding targets for biodiversity:

- By 2030: to halt the decline in species abundance.

- By 2042: to reverse declines in species abundance; to reduce the risk of species extinction; and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat.

Wetland restoration is important in driving species recovery.

On 31 January, the Government published its second statutory Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP23). The EIP23 is delivery focused and sets out the actions that will drive us towards reaching our long-term targets and goals.

Through its active role in the Ramsar Convention on wetlands, the UK is also committed to supporting the conservation and wise use of wetlands internationally. In support of this we will establish a UK wetland inventory, mapping our wetlands for the first time.

The majority of the UK’s saltmarsh habitats are already in Marine Protected Areas. Our focus is now on ensuring these are effectively managed.

The Environment Agency leads the ‘Restoring Meadows, Marsh and Reef Initiative’, working with partners across government, the environmental NGO sector, academia and industry to facilitate the accelerated restoration of estuarine and coastal habitats, with saltmarshes being one of their three initial focus habitats.

The England Peat Action Plan, published in May 2021, sets out a strategic framework to improve management and protection of both our upland and lowland peatlands.

In the Net Zero Strategy, we committed to aim to restore approximately 280,000 ha of peatland in England by 2050.  We are increasing levels of peatland restoration through the Nature for Climate Fund (NCF), which aims to provide funding for the restoration of approximately 35,000 ha of peatland by 2025. This represents a tripling of historic average annual restoration levels.

The NCF is providing over £33 million to restore 20,000 hectares of peatlands, with a further bidding round in 2023. The NCF Discovery Grant has also awarded over £5 million to 15 projects across England, stretching from Dorset to Northumberland, enabling the foundation work needed to prepare for the restoration of over 51,000 ha of peatland.

Through our Environmental Land Management schemes we are funding actions to maintain and improve wetland biodiversity, and to reduce nutrient and water supply pressures on wetlands. We published an update on our Environmental Land Management schemes on 26 January.