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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent support the Government has provided for habitat creation initiatives in (a) South Holland and the Deepings constituency and (b) Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire County Council is the responsible authority for the preparation of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy. The Strategy will agree priorities for nature recovery in the area and identify and map the best locations for habitat to be created or improved to benefit nature and the wider environment.

Natural England works with local planning authorities to secure Biodiversity Net Gain through development. There are two sites in Lincolnshire on the Natural England Biodiversity Net Gain Register, one of which is in South Holland and The Deepings. Together these sites have committed 85 hectares of land to nature recovery. Private sector investment into these sites will create and enhance a mosaic of habitats including species-rich grassland, woodland, scrub and wetland.

Natural England supports Landscape Recovery Projects in Lincolnshire, including the Greater Frampton, Doddington and Boothby Wildlands schemes, which create joined-up habitats that benefit local wildlife and ecosystems.

The Lincolnshire Coronation Coast National Nature Reserve, declared in September 2023 as the first in the new King's Series, added 2,350 hectares of land managed for nature conservation. This expanded reserve supports habitat creation across sand dunes, salt marshes, mudflats and freshwater marshes of international importance.

Natural England maintains numerous Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier agreements and Higher Level Stewardship agreements across Lincolnshire, working with farmers on projects that enhance nature recovery and create habitats for wildlife.