§ Mr. Altonasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the number of species of flora in danger of extinction.
§ Mr. MonroThe International Union for the Conservation of Nature has estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 species of flowering plants—10 per cent. of all such species—are threatened with ex-500W tinction. It is believed that some 40 of these currently occur in the United Kingdom, of which about half are already protected under the Conservation of Wild Creatures and Wild Plants Act 1975. I am advised that further additions are likely to be proposed by the Nature Conservancy Council when it completes its quinquennial review of the schedules to the Act later this year.