§ Mr. BrakeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to ensure that appropriate hydrological and management regimes are established by 2005 in all lowland raised bog areas which have been damaged but still retain nature conservation interest. [125773]
§ Mr. MullinThe Biodiversity Habitat action plan for Lowland Raised Bogs, published in October 1999, and placed in the Library of the House, sets out the planned action for restoring this habitat to favourable conservation status in the UK.
English Nature is the Lead Agency for co-ordination of action and work plans by the organisations identified in the plan. The plan acknowledges that a list must first be drawn up to decide which bogs require action to be taken.
Some bogs are included in the list of Candidate Special Areas of Conservation under the EC Habitats Directive which is currently under review. The Government will ensure that activities on or around candidate SACs which may damage their hydrology and are subject to formal permissions or licences are reviewed, including planning consents and activities licensed by the statutory water regulators. This could lead to a number of different outcomes to remove the source of damage.