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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help support rewilding in Devon.

Rewilding projects tend to be run by environmental NGOs and private organisations. Defra’s focus is to support nature recovery through a range of mechanisms, funding and policies. While Defra does not lead on nature recovery projects directly, it supports Natural England, the Environment Agency and Forestry England in their regulatory and partnership roles at a local level – including in Devon. Examples range from local projects such as species reintroductions to catchment scale habitat and river restoration, providing benefits to people and nature.