Asked by: Marquess of Lothian (Conservative - Life peer)
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.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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.
Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether payments available for farmers to create new habitat to (a) hold flood water and (b) enhance the capacity of existing habitat for holding flood water under the Environmental Land Management Scheme.
Answered by Mark Spencer - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Yes, the Environmental Land Management schemes will pay farmers and land managers for a number of actions to increase resilience to flooding through nature-based solutions such as natural flood management. The Countryside Stewardship (CS) scheme already has a number of grants which help manage flood risk on land, including through the creation, restoration and management of habitat such as fenland, reedbeds, inter-tidal habitat, scrub, and river and wetland habitats. As we enhance CS going forward, we will continue to pay for flood mitigation efforts through habitat creation and management. In addition to what is already available in CS and the Sustainable Farming Incentive, we plan to pay for new actions including, for example, enhancing floodwater storage, slowing the flow through maintaining the roughness of ground and sphagnum in the uplands, restoration and management of peatland, management of floodplain meadows and grassland for flood resilience, and restoration of coastal cliff habitats. The first competitive round of Landscape Recovery in 2022 awarded funding to 22 projects which collectively aim, among other environmental benefits, to restore over 400 miles of rivers. Landscape Recovery round two, which will open this year, will focus on net zero, protected sites, and habitat creation, which could include projects creating and enhancing peatland, nature reserves and protected sites such as wetlands and salt marshes. We published further detail of what we will pay for in the Environmental Land Management Update in January 2023.
Asked by: Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the health of the remaining natural fenland in England, and (2) the prospects for the future.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The most recent assessment of the health of natural fenland habitats in England was made in 2019 as part of UK reporting on the implementation of the EU Habitats Directive. Under the Directive member states are required to achieve Favourable Conservation Status - defined by range, extent, structure and function - for listed habitats of high conservation significance.
The results in Table 1 below show the United Kingdom's status, which is based on aggregation of data from the four countries.
Table 1
Fen type | Conservation Status and Trend | Future prospects | Key areas in England |
Transition mire and quaking bogs | Bad - stable | Bad | West Midlands, Cumbria, New Forest |
Tall base-rich fens with saw sedge | Bad - improving | Bad | East Anglia - Broads, Fens |
Petrifying springs with tufa formation | Bad - deteriorating | Bad | North Pennines, Cotswolds, Yorkshire Dales |
Alkaline Fens | Bad - stable | Bad | Norfolk, Oxfordshire, North Yorkshire, Cumbria |
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The future prospects of fens are inextricably linked to health of the wider water environment, in particular the restoration of more natural hydrological conditions in the sites and their catchments. Our environmental land management schemes will contribute to the health of fens, by improving water quality, air quality and biodiversity. The Nature for Climate Peatland Grant Scheme, aims to restore 35,000 hectares of peatland, including fens, by 2025. We have launched the Sustainable Farming Incentive, which provides funding at a large scale for sustainable land management practices. Currently the Sustainable Farming Incentive includes actions for soil management, and we will be including more actions from 2023. Countryside Stewardship already pays for actions which will benefit fens. We are evolving Countryside Stewardship to make it more accessible, improving targeting and including additional actions. We will be publishing more detail shortly on the actions we expect to pay for in the future, including managing, restoring and creating wetland habitat such as fens, and actions to improve water quality. The Water Industry National Environment Programme will also contribute to the future of fens.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
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 maintain levels of biodiversity in the UK.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Responsibility for biodiversity policy in the UK is devolved. In England we are taking unprecedented steps to maintain and increase biodiversity, not least by way of our world leading Environment Act, through which we have set new, legally binding targets to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030 and then reverse declines by 2042. This is complemented by further targets to reduce the risk of species extinction and restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat. The Act also introduced a powerful package of new policies and tools including Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities which will work together to protect our native species. We have introduced significant new funding for nature to support these aims, including for woodland and peatland restoration, green recovery and landscape scale nature recovery, and we are developing new Environmental Land Management schemes that reward environmental benefits. Our updated Environmental Improvement Plan for England, required by the Environment Act, will be published by 31 January and will be delivery focused, setting out the actions that will drive us towards reaching our long-term targets and goals. It will also include interim targets to be achieved in the next 5 years
We have also committed to protecting 30% of our land and sea by 2030 to better support and recover biodiversity. We have announced a landmark designation programme to help realise this, including the consideration of two new AONBs and creating a new Somerset Wetlands super National Nature Reserve that will protect 6,140 hectares of precious habitats.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to support scientific research into ways to reduce methane emissions.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department is undertaking research and working with partner organisations including the Met Office and National Physical Laboratory, to understand sources of methane emissions in the UK. The Department supports research into the restoration of UK wetlands, which if done appropriately, can avoid methane emissions. The Department also supports a wide range of innovation projects that look at alternatives to the use of methane as a fuel, including projects which trial the use of hydrogen.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish the findings of the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Nature-based solutions, including blue carbon habitats such as saltmarshes, have an important role to play in preventing biodiversity loss and supporting adaptation and resilience to climate change, alongside their carbon sequestration benefits. HM Government cannot currently commit to inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as there are significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting of anthropogenic activities and therefore emissions from coastal wetland habitats, including saltmarshes.
The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is responsible for the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, but through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, Defra is working with BEIS and the other UK Administrations to address key research questions relating to blue carbon, including to support the potential future inclusion of saltmarshes within the inventory. The first aim of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement that will act as a signal to the research community.
Asked by: Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to include the restoration of saltmarshes for blue carbon in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Nature-based solutions, including blue carbon habitats such as saltmarshes, have an important role to play in preventing biodiversity loss and supporting adaptation and resilience to climate change, alongside their carbon sequestration benefits. HM Government cannot currently commit to inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as there are significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting of anthropogenic activities and therefore emissions from coastal wetland habitats, including saltmarshes.
The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is responsible for the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, but through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, Defra is working with BEIS and the other UK Administrations to address key research questions relating to blue carbon, including to support the potential future inclusion of saltmarshes within the inventory. The first aim of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement that will act as a signal to the research community.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish the findings of the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the United Kingdom, there are currently significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting and therefore inclusion of emissions from coastal wetland habitats into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. However, through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon. One of the first aims of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement. The Statement is likely to include identification of evidence gaps which are a barrier to the inclusion of coastal wetlands into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as set out in a recently published report commissioned by BEIS; "Towards the inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK LULUCF inventory" (a copy is attached to this answer).The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in spring 2023.
Asked by: Lord Randall of Uxbridge (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will include "a roadmap to inclusion of saltmarsh and seagrass" in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee in their report Briefing: Blue Carbon, published in March.
Answered by Lord Benyon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
In the United Kingdom, there are currently significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting and therefore inclusion of emissions from coastal wetland habitats into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory. However, through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, UK Administrations are working with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Defra to address key research questions relating to blue carbon. One of the first aims of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement. The Statement is likely to include identification of evidence gaps which are a barrier to the inclusion of coastal wetlands into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as set out in a recently published report commissioned by BEIS; "Towards the inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK LULUCF inventory" (a copy is attached to this answer).The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in spring 2023.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department plans to include the restoration of saltmarshes for blue carbon in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Nature-based solutions, including blue carbon habitats such as saltmarshes, have an important role to play in preventing biodiversity loss and supporting adaptation and resilience to climate change, alongside their carbon sequestration benefits. HM Government cannot currently commit to inclusion of coastal wetlands in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory as there are currently significant evidence gaps that prevent the accurate reporting of anthropogenic activities and therefore emissions from coastal wetland habitats, including saltmarshes. The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is responsible for the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, but through the UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership, Defra is working with BEIS and the other UK Administrations to address key research questions relating to blue carbon, including to support the potential future inclusion of saltmarsh in the inventory. The first aim of the Partnership has been to identify and then clearly set out the most pressing research questions relating to blue carbon in an Evidence Needs Statement that will act as a signal to the research community. The UK Blue Carbon Evidence Partnership plans to publish the Evidence Needs Statement in spring 2023.