§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps she has taken at international level to increase forest protection and improve forest management; and if she will make a statement. [51237]
§ Hilary BennI have been asked to reply.
The UK has a long record of contributing to the shaping of international forest policy. This takes place at the level of expert working groups, as well as intergovernmental negotiations such as: the United Nations Forum on Forests; the Convention on Biological Diversity; and the G8 Action Programme on Forests. All of these processes seek to improve the management and protection of forests.
The UK leads on tackling illegal logging within the G8. We have made progress domestically, with the introduction of the Government's new timber procurement policy, and internationally, through collaborative work with a number of key timber exporting countries. The Memorandum of Understanding singed between Indonesia and UK on 18 April is the first of its kind and signals a real determination to deal with this problem.
DFID's bilateral programmes and DEFRA's Darwin Initiative provide support to forest management and protection in many developing countries.