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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the loss of UK moth species.

Defra is committed to delivering legally binding biodiversity targets including halting the decline in species abundance by 2030, reversing declines by at least 10% by 2042 compared with 2030, and reducing risk of national species extinction by 2042. The composite indicator we use to measure progress towards our species abundance targets includes over 400 moth species.

The Environmental Improvement Plan sets out actions we are taking to deliver these targets, including delivering a refreshed Pollinator Action Plan, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-improvement-plan-2025/environmental-improvement-plan-eip-2025 which will set out key actions for pollinators, including moths, in England.

Natural England is working with partners such as Butterly Conservation to take specific action for threatened moth species, including specific grazing and cutting regimes in chalk grassland areas for Black-Veined and Straw Belle moths in Kent, and translocations such as the Rosy Marsh moth in Cumbria.