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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what support the Government is providing for coral reef protection in the UK, with reference to the national security assessment on global biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security.

The UK is home to cold-water corals domestically and significant tropical reefs in its Overseas Territories.

In England, our deep-water coral habitats, situated within The Canyons Marine Conservation Zone, are protected by the Marine Management Organisation’s byelaw restricting bottom-trawling.

We also work closely with our Overseas Territories through the Coral Conservation in the Overseas Territories Working Group to support resilience-based reef management, collaboration and implementation of national reef action plans.

The nature security assessment on biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and national security identified coral reefs in SE Asia as one of 6 ecosystems of strategic importance for the UK. The UK is the largest donor to the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, a blended finance instrument that mobilises action to protect, restore and safeguard coral reef ecosystems and the communities that depend on them including in SE Asia.