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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to protect local biodiversity in South Northamptonshire.

Work is ongoing in South Northamptonshire to protect biodiversity. The constituency has a number of protected areas that provide for a host of notable habitats and species, from the ancient woodlands of the Whittlewood Forest Site of Special Scientific Interest to the rich wetland systems of the Upper Nene Valley Gravel Pits Special Protection Area.

Farmers are helping to recover nature through Countryside Stewardship schemes, protecting these special sites and creating wildlife corridors, so species can move and colonise new areas.

Defra is buffering and expanding wildlife rich woodlands through grant support for woodland creation and tree cover expansion. And Natural England provides advice to developers and local authorities, to ensure that nature is firstly protected and all opportunities are taken to create new wildlife rich spaces through the planning system.