§ 29. Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress he has to report on the designation of special protection areas for ornithological purposes and special areas for conservation for other wildlife conservation interests with respect to the European habitats directive.
§ Mr. AtkinsThe Government arc making excellent progress on classifying special protection areas for birds. Twenty-three SPAs have been classified in the last 12 months, bringing the UK total to 102. We expect to announce more classifications shortly. Following advice from the statutory nature conservation agencies, I will shortly be consulting on a list of possible areas which could qualify for submission to the European Commission as candidate special areas of conservation.