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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help tackle the decline in the numbers of British birds.

We are committed to delivering our statutory biodiversity targets which will support the recovery and conservation of native wild birds.

Nationally, government actions to restore and create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat by 2042, along with projects funded through Natural England’s Species Recovery Programme, will support the conservation and recovery of a wide range of bird species. Within the farmland environment, Environment Land Management schemes include actions that provide food, shelter, and nesting habitat for a range of bird species.

In addition, to support delivery of our statutory species targets, Defra is developing a detailed Threatened Bird Recovery Plan which aims to improve coordination, and drive the delivery, of actions to recover our most threatened bird species.