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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of Sites of Special Scientific Interest have not had an assessment within the six-year monitoring cycle.

As of 26 February 2019, 54% of the 4,122 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) had not had an assessment by Natural England within the past six years.

54.7% of SSSI land is in unfavourable recovering condition. The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets a new ambitious target to restore 75% of SSSIs by area to favourable condition by 2042, securing their wildlife value for the long term.

Available information is published online at: https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/

I have asked Natural England for an assessment of the greatest impacts on SSSI condition as part of the development of the Nature Strategy we are committed to in the 25 Year Environment Plan.