§ Mr. Richard Pageasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current rate of destruction or additions to hedgerows in (a) Hertfordshire and (b) England in miles and as a proportion of the total.
§ Mrs. RumboldSome indication of the rate of destruction for hedgerow for England is given in the recent Ministry of Agriculture survey of environmental topics on farms, which indicates an annual loss of 400 miles in England. This represents one sixth of one per cent. of the estimated total mileage of 270,900 miles of hedge on farms. This survey does not provide a breakdown to county level statistics.
Recently the National Environment Research Council institute of terrestrial ecology has published "Landscape Change in Britain" which identifies hedgerow losses of some 17,500 miles between 1978 and 1984 for the whole of England, Wales and Scotland, but a breakdown to England for county level statistics has not been given.
The Department of the Environment has commissioned Hunting Surveys and Consultants to conduct a survey of changes in landscape features. The report of this two-year research programme is expected shortly. It will include hedgerow information, but not broken down to county level.