§ Lord Pearson of Rannochasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the European Union has recently asked the United Kingdom and or other member states to designate further areas to be covered by special protection orders or as Special Areas of Conservation; and, if so, what action is being taken by the United Kingdom. [HL4811]
§ Lord WhittyThe UK has submitted 340 candidate Special Areas of Conservation (SACS) to the European Commission. During 1999, an EC co-ordinated moderation process decided that all member states' site lists were insufficient. They were asked to submit additional sites. The UK has recently submitted 46 additional candidate SACs to the Commission, and intends to submit further sites shortly. The UK has classified 223 Special Protection Areas under the Birds Directive. The Joint Nature Conservation Committee is currently reviewing this list, in consultation with the RSPB, and it is anticipated that further sites will be classified with the aim of completing the UK SPA network in 2000–2001.