Biodiversity
(asked on 22nd March 2019) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to meet UN biodiversity targets on halting species decline and improving the condition of protected sites.
Domestic biodiversity policy is a devolved matter and the information provided relates to England only, except in relation to our plans internationally.
On land, around 94% of our protected sites, covering over 1 million hectares, are now in good condition or have management in place to restore their condition. At sea, we are putting management measures in place to protect and expand our Marine Protected Areas. We have consulted on a third tranche of 41 Marine Conservation Zones. Sites to be designated will be in place by 7 June.
Our agencies and non-Departmental bodies are working on species recovery projects with landowning and conservation partners, for example on freshwater pearl mussel, short-haired bumblebee and stone curlew.
The ongoing declines in nature are a global problem that need a global solution. That is why the UK is committed to playing a leading role in developing a global post-2020 framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity that is ambitious and transformational. Our Darwin Initiative supports global action by providing grants to protect biodiversity and the natural environment, with £10.6 million awarded in 2018. Defra has contributed almost £6 million over the last three years to Darwin Plus for Overseas Territories’ biodiversity. We continue to support activities to end poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, and have recently passed new legislation to close our domestic ivory market, which will be the toughest ivory ban in Europe and one of the toughest in the world.
The UK Government has committed to protecting the ocean, and has called for at least 30 per cent of the ocean to be in Marine Protected Areas by 2030. Our Blue Belt programme will protect marine habitats and species in 4million km2 around the Overseas Territories by 2020.