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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when she will publish the response to the MMO's Stage 3 marine protected areas consultation.

Answered by Emma Hardy - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) consulted last year on fisheries byelaws to restrict bottom trawling in a further 41 MPAs. These proposals covered 30,000 square kilometres or 13% of English waters. The MMO is carefully considering the very large number of responses received to the consultation, and decisions will be made in due course.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to list the meetings she and her ministers have had with the NFFO since 9 June 2025.

Answered by Stephen Morgan - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

Defra ministers meet with a range of stakeholders on a regular basis, including the NFFO to discuss matters relevant to commercial fisheries. Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations and individuals are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will publish baseline data for the extent of degraded ecosystems in terrestrial, inland waters and the marine environments in the UK in line with Target 2 of the Global Biodiversity Framework.

Answered by Mary Creagh

The Government publishes a wide range of data relevant to ecosystem condition and restoration across terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments. In the marine environment, assessments of progress towards Good Environmental Status are publicly available through the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science's Marine Online Assessment Tool.

Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme will deliver a baseline assessment of the environment at a national and regional scale, including datasets across England's terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. It will conclude in 2028 having completed its five-year strategic sample.

The Government will continue to build the evidence base and monitoring approaches needed to support a robust assessment of ecosystem restoration across the UK.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress she has made in delivering Target 2 of the Global Biodiversity framework.

Answered by Mary Creagh

The UK’s 7th National Report, published in February 2026, reaffirms the UK’s commitment to achieving all 23 targets of the Global Biodiversity Framework at home, and shows that the UK has solid foundations in place and meaningful progress being made across almost all targets.

A range of actions have been undertaken across the UK to restore degraded ecosystems. For instance, England has set legally binding targets under the Environment Act 2021, including on habitat creation or restoration, marine protected area (MPA) condition, and tree planting, supported by significant investments in nature and legislative and regulatory measures. There have been major investments made in nature recovery, for example, woodland creation in England is accelerating with 5,765 ha of new woodland planted in 2024/2025, reflecting a 27% increase on the previous year.

Found: the Chair Sarah Bool Helena Dollimore Sarah Dyke Jayne Kirkham Josh Newbury Tim Roca Barry Gardiner

Found: meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Jonathan Davies; Barry Gardiner

Found: meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Jonathan Davies; Barry Gardiner

Found: Q79 Barry Gardiner: Absolutely.

Found: Sheffield Hallam) Julia Buckley (Labour; Shrewsbury) Jonathan Davies (Labour; Mid Derbyshire) Barry Gardiner

Found: Q140 Barry Gardiner: Thank you. Should heat reuse for data centres be mandatory?

Found: meeting Members present: Mr Toby Perkins (Chair); Olivia Blake; Julia Buckley; Jonathan Davies; Barry Gardiner