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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to her oral contribution of 18 October 2016, Official Report, 301WH, which UK sites are already designated for protection because of international agreements; and if she will make a statement.

The UK has designated 150 sites under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, including 25 in the UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. In addition UK Marine Protected Areas contribute to the well managed ecologically coherent network of Marine Protected Areas under the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic. These can be found on line at http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/page-1389 and http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4549

Our network of protected sites, including Sites of Special Scientific Interest, National Parks, Marine Conservation Zones, European and Ramsar sites, support the UK’s contribution to achieving the Convention on Biological Diversity’s Aichi Target 11 (protected areas increased and improved). These networks also contribute to the achievement of UN Sustainable Development Goals 14: conservation and sustainable use of the marine environment and its resources; and 15: sustainable use of the terrestrial environment and halting biodiversity loss.