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 monitor and mitigate the risk of the H5N1 virus to wild and farmed birds as seabirds return to the UK's coastlines for nesting.

We recognise the significant threat posed by avian influenza to both kept and wild birds and share the concerns about the impact on wild bird breeding populations in the future, particularly seabirds that nest closely in large numbers.

For kept birds the enhanced biosecurity measures mandated by the Avian Influenza Prevention Zone (AIPZ) in force across the UK remain vital to protecting flocks across the country. For wild birds Defra’s Mitigation Strategy for Avian Influenza in Wild Birds in England and Wales supports the Notifiable Avian Disease Control Strategy for Great Britain and provides guidance to conservation charities, ornithologists and land managers including local authorities, on how to prepare and respond to suspected and confirmed findings of avian influenza in wild birds.

Defra’s approach to tackling this year’s avian influenza outbreak continues to be led by international best practice and the latest evidence, which suggest that unlike in kept birds there are limited measures that can be taken to reduce transmission between wild birds and in seabird colonies in particular.  However, we’re doing all we can to tackle the impact of avian influenza in wild birds, with year-round surveillance, a new research consortium – backed by £1.5m in research funding – to develop new strategies to tackle avian influenza outbreaks, and working closely and meeting regularly with conservation charities, including the WWT, National Trust and RSPB, to consider any further action we can take.  We will work with Natural England as well as key external organisations to develop and implement appropriate actions to support the recovery of vulnerable bird populations in England.