§ Lord Melchettasked Her Majesty's Government:
What means are available to protect the habitats of wild bird species listed in Schedule l to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, where these species occur at a low density over a wide area; and whether they will state whether a site comprising upland moorland and grassland with water bodies has been accorded by the Nature Conservancy Council (NCC) a threshold breeding bird community index which if exceeded requires the NCC to notify such land as a site of special scientific interest.
§ Lord SkelmersdaleBird habitats generally may be protected either under the arrangements set out in Section 3 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, or through notification or renotification as sites of special scientific interest under the provisions of Section 28 of the Act. My answer of 15th January (Official Report, col. 959) summarised the criteria adopted for notification under Section 28.
No specific index has been adopted for sites comprising upland moorland and grassland with water bodies.