§ Hugh RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment. Food and Rural Affairs what plans she has to seek to increase the numbers of farmland birds. [6001]
§ Mr. MorleyThis Department has a Public Service Agreement (PSA) target to reverse the long-term decline in the number of farmland birds by 2020. A number of existing policy measures will help to achieve that target—not least the significant expansion of our agri-environment schemes under the England Rural Development Programme. However, we recognise that the reasons for the decline in farmland bird numbers are complex and we have commissioned research from the British Trust for 1089W Ornithology and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to help us identify more precisely what needs to be done to deliver the PSA target.