§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assistance has been offered by the United Kingdom to the Governments of Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to protect migrating pipers, plovers, redshanks and other birds from oil pollution in the Gulf during their return to the northern hemisphere this spring.
§ Mr. TrippierThe International Council for Bird Preservation, which is based in Cambridge, is currently undertaking, with the support of the Saudi national commission for wildlife conservation and development, a detailed study of the spring migration in the Gulf. This work, which involves ringing and colour marking of birds, will give an indication of how seriously migrating species are likely to be affected by pollution in the Gulf. My Department proposes to contribute £10,000 to the cost of this study which should be completed next month.