§ Mr. Roger EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the best estimates of the amount of loss of hedgerows in the United Kingdom in each of the last five years; and what proportion of the total amount of hedgerow the same represent.
§ Mr. MacleanThe information is not available in this form. The survey carried out by the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology as part of my Department's countryside survey 1990 contains the most up to date figures. These indicate that between 1984 and 1990 there was a net loss of some 121,000 km—around 76,000 miles—of hedgerows in Great Britain, making up 22 per cent. of the total hedgerow stock. This includes losses due to poor management as well as deliberate removal. There are no figures currently available for Northern Ireland.