§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he taking about the decline in numbers of the(a) swallowtail, (b) large blue, (c) pearl-boarded fritillary, (d) high brown fritillary and (e) marsh fritillary butterflies; and if he will make a statement. [20896]
§ Sir Paul BeresfordI refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave on 27 October 1994,Official Report, column 816, in which I advised on the development of targets for species conservation, announced in "Biodiversity: The UK Action Plan."
English Nature is already part-funding a three-year project by Butterfly Conservation, preparing conservation plans for the scarcer butterfly species, including the five about which the hon. Member is concerned.
The Biodiversity Steering Group is also considering a number of scarce butterfly and other species as candidates for action plans to improve their conservation status. The group will report later this year.