Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Burns Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2016 Commons Chamber

[Graham Evans (Weaver Vale) (Con)]

5. What recent steps the Great British Food Unit has taken to promote regional food and drink.

[Sir Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)]

7. What recent steps the Great British Food Unit has taken to promote regional food and drink.

[Richard Graham (Gloucester) (Con)]

10. What progress her Department has made on promoting regional food and drink.

--- Later in debate ---

[Elizabeth Truss]

In my opinion, it is never too early for a gin and tonic! I completely agree with my hon. Friend. Now that the British people have made the decision to leave the EU, the Great British Food Unit is even more important. We already have missions planned for the Gulf, China and Japan to open more markets for fantastic British food. I am going to increase the resources going into the Great British Food Unit to make sure that we turbo-charge our efforts to export more British food right around the world.

[Sir Simon Burns]

Does my right hon. Friend accept that Essex is home to some of the finest food, drink and countryside in the nation? What does she think is the link between food and tourism, and what more can be done to promote it?

[Elizabeth Truss]

We know that for a third of all visitors, food is a major factor in deciding where to visit. It is hugely important, which is why DEFRA is backing food tourism. We recently backed the “tour culinaire” to Yorkshire, which accompanied the cycle race and featured fantastic Yorkshire products such as liquorice. I would be delighted to discuss with my right hon. Friend how we could do something similar in Essex in respect of fantastic products such as Tiptree strawberry jam.

Illegal Wildlife Trade

Simon Burns Excerpts

Wednesday 19th March 2014 Westminster Hall

[Mr Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to attend yet again a debate in this Chamber that you are chairing, Dr McCrea. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to raise this important issue. As Mr Speaker rightly said during Foreign Office questions on 4 March, the issue is of considerable concern not only to right hon. and hon. Members, but to many people beyond this Chamber among the general public. We have a critical situation, because the illegal trade in wildlife is posing a significant threat to a number of species. There are primarily two reasons for that. Encroachment on natural habitats is causing considerable problems for a range of species, but even worse is the illegal trade that goes on around the world, which is posing a significant threat to many species.

After decades of conservation gains, the world is now dealing with what I believe is an unprecedented spike in the illegal wildlife trade, threatening all the gains of recent years. The situation is, to put it starkly, devastating. Let us take the question of ivory. It is estimated that 23 tonnes, representing 2,500 elephants, was seized in 2011, and I suspect that that is just the tip of the iceberg, because by definition, given that it is an illegal trade, one will never be able to get the whole picture. It will inevitably be worse than is shown by the statistics on what has actually been found by the authorities.

Poaching threatens the last of the wild tigers in the world. It is estimated that only 3,200 are left in the wild. That is as opposed to those that are in captivity. The use of tiger parts in traditional medicines is thought to have contributed to at least a 95% drop in the wild tiger population in the last century.

Let us look at the horrendous situation for rhinos. In 2010, an estimated 333 rhinos were poached for their horns in South Africa alone. That is one rhino every 30 hours. But ironically, the world’s largest seizure of rhino horn, which included 129 horns, occurred in Kensington in central London—not somewhere normally associated with rhinoceroses. It is thought that rhino poaching increased by 5,000% between 2007 and 2012, with one killed by a poacher every 10 hours. Last year, the western black rhino was declared extinct, sadly.

Since 2004, the central Africa region has lost 66% of its elephant population. That shows the sheer scale of the problem, notwithstanding the tremendous efforts that many countries in Africa are making to combat the illegal activities of poachers and others.

The problem is not restricted to wild animals. According to an excellent brief provided by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, there is, sadly, a decimation of African vultures going on at the moment. In southern Africa, eight out of nine vulture species are red-listed, with most in the high-threat categories of endangered and vulnerable. Recently, they have been facing the new threat of being poisoned en masse by elephant poachers, who believe that the vultures are exposing their illegal activities to the anti-poaching authorities. The massacre of 600 vultures by poachers in Namibia was preceded by the killing of 300 birds in early 2013 and 250 in Botswana in mid-2012. All those incidents took place during the peak vulture breeding season, so overall mortalities are much higher and there is an even more devastating impact on the future survival of the vulture population.

After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the poaching of saiga antelope for the saiga horn trade became a significant and major problem as well. Uncontrolled hunting of the antelope was driven by poor economic conditions and the possibility of selling horns for traditional Chinese medicine through the less controlled borders to Asia. After the ban on trade in rhinoceros horn in 1993, saiga horn was used as a substitute, leading to a decline in saiga numbers of more than 95% by the year 2000. As only the males grow horns, the selective poaching led to massive skewing in the sex ratio of the species, with the inevitable impact that that has on its survival rates for the future.

I am sure that you would agree, Dr McCrea, that there is a significant problem and, although a considerable amount is being done by the international community, we seem to be, in many respects, on a losing wicket, because of the increased activity in different parts of the world by those who are prepared to engage in this illegal trade. As I said earlier, because of the illegal nature of the trade, it is very difficult to get accurate figures for exactly what is going on, but the best estimate is that the global illegal wildlife trade is worth somewhere between £6 billion and £12 billion a year. That puts into perspective the pressures that there are on people to engage in this illegal activity, and the sheer scale of the problem that faces the world in seeking to challenge and reduce it.

Between 1970 and 2000, the population of species declined by an average of 40%, and the second-largest threat to species survival after habitat destruction is the illegal wildlife trade. Worryingly, London is a major hub for Europe’s illegal trade in endangered species. I congratulate the authorities on what they are doing to combat that. Operation Charm, led by the Metropolitan police, has resulted in the seizure of more than 30,000 endangered species items since 1995, but again that highlights the scale of the problem just here in London, and the challenge facing the authorities to maintain the momentum and ensure that they continue to be able to meet the challenges of reducing this crime. I ask my hon. Friend the Minister what more is being done by the law enforcement authorities and the international community to combat the illegal trade in the UK.

I pay tribute to the many dedicated and hard-working people around the world who are working to protect endangered species. At least 1,000 park rangers have been killed in the last decade. What action is being taken to give extra protection to such people? Significant attacks on, and the unlawful killing of, people who are working to reduce and minimise this crime will have an impact on others and discourage them from working in this field, because of the dangers that they and their families would face as a result of the ruthlessness of those engaged in what is essentially an extremely big business—that is what it is for those who sadly are successful in pursuing their illegal trade.

The recent London conference was a significant step towards reaching an international consensus, and towards getting co-operation to increase and enhance our ability to tackle this growing crime. As the Minister is aware, the countries that attended the conference signed the London declaration, which included a number of actions that will hopefully help to eradicate the demand for wildlife products, strengthen law enforcement and support the development of sustainable livelihoods for communities affected by wildlife crime. The international community signed up to a number of actions within the declaration, including support for continuing the existing international ban on commercial trade in elephant ivory; renouncing the use within Governments of products from species threatened with extinction; amending legislation to make poaching and wildlife trafficking serious crimes under the terms of the UN convention against transnational organised crime; strengthening cross-border co-operation and support for regional wildlife law enforcement networks; and further analysis to better understand the links between wildlife crime and other organised crime and corruption, and to explore links to terrorism. The plan includes a commitment to an extended moratorium on ivory sales, and to put ivory stocks beyond economic use.

I am pleased that the UK Government announced that they will provide support to help the initiative get up and running. The London declaration and the elephant poaching initiative come at a critical time. Demand for illegal wildlife products has risen sharply in the past decade. It is laudable that countries attend such international conferences and sign up to initiatives and proposals that are seen as a positive step towards combating such crime, but we must do more than simply sign up to declarations and initiatives. We can talk the talk, but we must also walk the walk. I want to know from the Minister what will be done between now and next year’s meeting in Botswana to ensure that the declaration does not simply pay lip service to a range of laudable and badly needed initiatives, but is translated into real and proper action. What will the British Government do to ensure that countries that do not have a great ability to implement the declaration get assistance from the other countries that attended the conference? We must ensure that they play their full part in tackling the problem. They must roll back the increase in the illegal trade. Conservation and law enforcement measures must once again have a positive effect on crime.

Oral Answers to Questions

Simon Burns Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2014 Commons Chamber

[Dan Rogerson]

The right hon. Lady is a doughty campaigner on the route and proposals for High Speed 2. The issues with ancient woodland are of course of great concern and I have been looking at which areas of ancient woodland might be affected by the route. I would be happy to meet her to discuss that if she would like me to.

[Mr Simon Burns (Chelmsford) (Con)]

6. What estimate his Department has made of the number of properties protected from flooding during the recent floods.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson)]

We estimate that to date a total of more than 1.3 million properties have been protected from flooding during the flood events since the beginning of last December.

[Mr Burns]

That answer will bring great satisfaction to those whose houses have been protected as a result of improved flood defences, but does the Minister accept that the critical issue now is to ensure that more houses are given that protection in future because of the terrible events going on in this country at present? What commitment do the Government have to continue the work of improving flood defences to protect people’s homes?

[Dan Rogerson]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that, thanks to the efforts of the Environment Agency and all the money that has been invested, many homes have been protected, as I set out. It is crucial that we do more, however, which is why we are investing £2.3 billion in the next spending period and we announced £344 million last week for schemes that will go ahead in the next year. It is also why we are working hard on partnership funding and making the case locally to bring forward schemes that would otherwise not have been funded.