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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many representatives of her Department will attend the Ramsar Conference in Uruguay in June 2015; what steps she is taking to protect UK wetlands; and if she will make a statement.

Defra has sent two representatives to the 12^th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention in Uruguay.

The UK is a party to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and has designated 172 Ramsar sites. This is more than any other Contracting Party and includes 24 sites in the UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. In Great Britain, Ramsar sites cover an area of almost 700,000 hectares. Detailed site information is available on the Joint Nature Conservation Committee’s website at: http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=161.

In Great Britain, Ramsar sites are not afforded statutory protection but as a matter of Government policy receive the same protection as European sites designated under the EU Wild Birds and Habitats Directives. For example, in England the National Planning Policy Framework (2012) states that listed or proposed Ramsar sites should be given the same protection as European sites. In regard to the broader protection of wetlands, this is mainly delivered through national implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive and the Birds and Habitats Directives. Defra takes a strategic approach to ensure that the implementation of these Directives is complementary to deliver common objectives.

Information regarding Northern Ireland is the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Office.