§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what impact the proposed new environmental protection agency will have on determining environmental policy towards wetlands.
§ Mr. MacleanThe proposed new Environment Agency will bring together all of the functions of the National Rivers Authority, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution and the waste regulation functions of local authorities to form an integrated body. It will have no responsibility for determining environmental policy towards wetlands, but may provide information on matters within its responsibilities. The Government are committed to the wise use of wetlands as part of their obligations under the Ramsar convention on wetlands of international importance.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much English Nature spent on management agreements that involved the protection and management of wetland areas in the last financial year.
§ Mr. MacleanEnglish Nature spent £5,735,359 on management agreements in 1991–92. A breakdown of that expenditure for all 1,584 agreements by habitat type is not readily available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. However £49,404 was spent on new agreements involving wetland or partial wetland sites concluded in 1992–93 where the annual payment exceeded £2,000 or where a lump sum payment in excess of £10,000 was made.
§ Mr. MorleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all important wetland sites designated under the Ramsar convention to date.
§ Mr. MacleanI was pleased to announce the designation of Roydon Common, Gibraltar Point and the Nene Washes as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar convention, and the extension of the existing Ouse Washes Ramsar site, on 5 March 1993. The United Kingdom has now listed 62 Ramsar sites, including one site in a dependent territory, the Turks and Caicos Islands. Details of the sites are as follows.
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United Kingdom sites listed as wetlands of international importance under the RAMSAR convention Name County/Region Dale designated 1. Bridgwater Bay Somerset 5 January 1976 2. Bure Marshes Norfol 5 January 1976 3. Core Fochno and Dyfi Dyfed, Gwynedd and Powys 5 January 1976 4. Hickling Broad and Horsey Mere Norfolk 5 January 1976 5. Lindafarne Northumberland 5 January 1976 (1 11 March 1992) 6. Loch Druidibcg, Loch a'Machair and Loch Slilligary Western Isles 5 January 1976 7. Loch Leven Tayside 5 January 1976 8. Loch Lomond Strathclyde and Central 5 January 1976 9. Lough Neagh and Lough Beg Antrim, Londonderry Tyrone, Armagh and Down 5 January 1976 10. Minsmere-Walberswick Suffolk 5 January 1976 (1 19 May 1992) 11. North Norfolk Coast Norfolk 5 January 1976 (1 20 January 1989) 12. Ouse Washes Cambridgeshire and Norfolk 5 January 1976 (1 5 March 1993) 13. Rannoch Moor Tayside 5 January 1976 14. Abberton Reservoir Essex 24 July 1981 15. Cairngorm Lochs Grampian and Highland 24 July 1981 16. Claish Moss Highland 24 July 1981 17. Loch Lintrathen Tayside 24 July 1981 18. Rostheme Mere Cheshire 24 July 1981 19. Silver Flowe Dumfries and Galloway 24 July 1981 20. Chesil Beach and the Fleet Dorset 17 July 1985 21. The Dee Estuary Merseyside, Cheshire and Clwyd 17 July 1985 22. Derwent Ings North Yorkshire and Humberside 17 July 1985 23. Holborn Moss Northumberland 17 July 1985 24. Irthinghead Mires Cumbria and Northumberland 17 July 1985 25. The Swale Kent 17 July 1985 26. Alt Estuary Merseyside 28 November 1985 27. Leighton Moss Lancashire 29 November 1985 28. Martin Mere Lancashire 28 November 1985 29. Loch Eye Highland 23 September 1986 30. Loch Skene Grampian 23 September 1986 31. Rokliffe Marshes (part of Upper Solway Flats and Marshes) Cumbria 23 September 1986 32. Chichester and Langstone Harbours Hampshire/West Sussex 26 October 1987 33. Upper Severn Estuary Gloucestershire 5 February 1988 34. The Wash Lincolnshire/Norfolk 30 March 1988 35. Pagham Harbour West Sussex 30 March 1988 36. Din Moss—Hoselaw Loch Borders 14 July 1988 37. Gladhouse Reservoir Lothian 14 July 1988 38. Bridgend Flats, Islay Strathclyde 14 July 1988 39. Duich Moss, Islay Strathclyde 14 July 1988 40. Gruinart Flats Strathclyde 14 July 1988 41. Fala Flow Midlothian 25 April 1990 42. Glac-na-Criche Islay 25 April 1990 43. Feur Lochain Islay 25 April 1990 44. Loch an Duin North Uist 25 April 1990 45. North, Middle and East Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos 27 June 1990
Name County/Region Date designated 46. Redgrave and South Lopham Fens Norfolk/Suffolk 15 February 1991 47. Rutland Water Leicestershire 4 October 1991 48. Llyn Idwal Gwynedd 7 November 1991 49. Llyn Tegid Gwynedd 7 November 1991 50. Esthwaite Water Cumbria 7 November 1991 51. Walmore Common Gloucester 5 December 1991 52. Exe Estuary Devon 11 March 1992 53. Old Hall Marshes Essex 11 March 1992 54. Chippenham Fen Cambridgeshire 11 March 1992 55. Burry Inlet Dyfed/West Glamorgan 14 July 1992 56. Loch Ken and Dee Marshes Dumfries and Galloway 31 August 1992 57. Loch Spynie Grampian 31 August 1992 58. Cors Caron Dyfed 28 September 1992 59. Upper Solway Flats and Marshes Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway 30 November 1992 60. Roydon Common Norfolk 5 March 1993 61. Nene Washes Cambridgeshire 5 March 1993 62. Gibraltar Point (Wash Phase II) Lincolnshire 5 March 1993 1 Extended.