§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will commission a study into the disappearance of puffins along the south coast.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyNo. The Nature Conservancy Council advised that there has been no fall in the overall 183W numbers of puffins on the south coast. The latest available figures show a maximum of some 260 birds in the area between 1985 and 1987, compared with 205 in 1969–70. While some small colonies may have declined or moved elsewhere, any localised changes are not considered so significant, in relation to the total British puffin population of over 500,000 breeding pairs, to justify commissioning a study.