HC Deb 13 June 1995 vol 261 cc431-2W
Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what action Her Majesty's Government are taking to train sufficient scientists in methods relating to the identification of species to enable the United Kingdom to fulfil obligations under the biodiversity convention; and what assessment has been made of the shortage of taxonomists. [26328]

Mr. Horam

In line with the convention, the Darwin initiative is funding about 30 projects relating to taxonomy costing over £3 million. Those projects involve the training of over 400 developing country scientists.

Responsibility for assessing and meeting the UK's needs more generally rests primarily with the scientific community in universities, institutions such as the natural history museum, and the research councils. The Natural Environment Research Council launched an initiative in 1992 to revitalise taxonomic research and training relevant to the environmental sciences, and currently supports students, fellows, and projects in the field. I understand that Edinburgh university and the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh have introduced an MSc "Biodiversity and Taxonomy in Plants" which has proved successful in attracting students from home and abroad as well as research council support. The UK Systematics Forum, funded by the Office of Science and Technology, now brings together members from across the country to investigate, among other things, ways of increasing the opportunities for training systematists.

Mr. Dalyell

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what measures Her Majesty's Government have taken to implement the recommendations of Lord Dainton's report on biological taxonomy. [26331]

Mr. Horam

The Government's response Cm 2243 to the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee report on systematic biology research was published in June 1993. Since then, the Office of Science and Technology has set up the UK Systematics Forum and commissioned an independent review of the UK's microbial culture collections.

The Natural Environment Research Council, through its initiative in taxonomy research and training, is currently funding six research fellowships over a five-year period at a total cost of just over £1 million. These fellowships are eligible for associated research grants, for which a further £665,000 has been committed over the same period.