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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assistance her Department offers the UK Overseas Territories to identify and tackle the threat that invasive invertebrate pests pose to native plants.

The UK Government is committed to assisting our Overseas Territories (OTs) in protecting their biodiversity. Territory Governments are constitutionally responsible for the conservation of their natural environments and we work in partnership with them to identify where our support can be most effective, including through access to technical advice and expertise, training and through the OTs Environment and Climate Fund (Darwin Plus).

Preventing the establishment of invasive alien species and eradicating or controlling invasive species is one of our priorities in supporting biodiversity conservation in the OTs. Defra has funded various projects on biosecurity, bio-control and the spread of non-native species in the OTs, including contributing funding to a RSPB-led study of 2,000 islands within 11 OTs to assist in the prioritisation of the eradication of invasive vertebrates, a review of the rate, spread and risks posed by invasive species in the Falklands, and developing capacity to restore islands by the removal of invasive species in five Caribbean Territories.

Defra also funds the Overseas Territories Pest Identification Service operated by the Food and Environment Research Agency which identifies invasive invertebrate plant pests.