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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent in restoring British endangered species in each if the last three years.

This is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only.

Natural England runs a Species Recovery Programme which directly supports research and action to recover endangered or threatened species. Funding allocations for the Programme were £873,000, £737,000 and £777,000 in the years 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19.

This is only a small proportion of the Government’s expenditure on threatened species. Species conservation is integrated into funding programmes for protected sites, agri-environment schemes and wider investment in wildlife-rich habitats and ecosystems.

Defra’s agencies and non-departmental bodies also work with a range of partners to support the recovery of threatened species. Natural England is working with a range of conservation organisations on the externally funded Back from the Brink programme to protect threatened species and their habitats. The Environment Agency is working with partners to support the conservation of freshwater priority species such as the freshwater pearl mussel and salmon.