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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the benefits to biodiversity of wildlife corridors; and what steps he has taken to introduce them to urban areas.

Our 25 Year Environment Plan, published in 2018, signalled a step change in the Government’s ambition for wildlife and the natural environment and included a commitment to establish a Nature Recovery Network. Building on the recommendations of Sir John Lawton’s landmark ‘Making Space for Nature’ report, this Network will be a bigger, better quality and increasingly connected network of places that are richer in wildlife, supporting the recovery of our species and more resilient to climate change and other pressures.

Connectivity is a critical component of this Network. Wildlife corridors can help to ensure that additional newly created or restored wildlife-rich habitat is joined-up, including where it lies close to or within urban areas. Improving the condition and connectivity of our wildlife habitats will help to ensure that species survive in their existing locations and, where necessary, will allow them to move towards more suitable areas in response to ecological pressures such as climate change. Through the Environment Act, we are putting in place Local Nature Recovery Strategies to ensure we establish habitat in the best place for wildlife and the wider environment and effectively target our activity.