Jim Shannon – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of song birds in the UK.

George Eustice

The UK has designated 615 sites as Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive, and 270 sites as Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive to provide protection to our most vulnerable and threatened wild birds.

Agri-environment schemes are the principal means of improving habitat for farmland songbirds, assisting farmers to provide additional habitat and food on their farms for birds and other wildlife. The Government also supports the Campaign for the Farmed Environment to provide better habitats for farmland birds.

The Government has provided £7.5 million to establish twelve Nature Improvement Areas. These are intended to benefit birds by improving existing habitat, creating new habitat and improving connectivity between habitats.