asked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Nature Conservancy Council has yet identified those areas in the Western Isles which qualify for protection under article 4 of EEC directive 79/409/EEC.

A number of sites in the Western Isles of significance to birds in relation to article 4 of the directive are being reviewed by the Government on the advice of the NCC to ascertain their suitability for notification. I will, in due course, place a copy of the initial list, and any subsequent lists, of notified sites in the Library of the House.