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 recent estimate he has made of the number of merlins in the UK; and what steps his Department is taking to maintain their numbers and habitat.

George Eustice

The merlin is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 which makes it an offence to take, kill or injure any wild bird; take or damage their nests while in use; and take or destroy an egg. This robust legal framework protects the merlin from persecution, with penalties including imprisonment.

The Department has not made an assessment of merlin population levels. A study by Ewing et al reported that in 2008 there were approximately 1,100 breeding pairs of merlins in the UK.

Several measures are in place to protect habitats. 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.

The Government has also 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.