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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the number of hectares of new wildlife habitat that will be created under the £40 million Green Recovery Challenge Fund.

The Green Recovery Challenge Fund will kick-start a pipeline of nature-based projects across England. This will include the creation of new wildlife habitat, in addition to a range of other outcomes such as species protection, nature-based solutions to climate change, connecting people with nature, and creating and retaining jobs.

We cannot yet confirm the successful projects and the outputs they will deliver. However, following the success of the first round, an additional £40 million is being invested in the fund, increasing the contribution the fund will make to the creation of new wildlife habitat across England.