To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1) under what timetable habitat action plans will be produced to instigate the recovery of habitats on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority list; (167751)

I announced a new UK list of priority species and habitats on 28 August 2007. Action plans for many of these, such as the otter and lowland heathland, have already been in place for a number of years which has resulted in significant recovery.

The development of action plans for new priority habitats is a devolved matter and each country will carry this out to their own timetable. However, recent discussions between the countries indicate that Habitat Groups and lead partners will be appointed during 2008, with the preparation of objectives/targets by early 2009 and the completion of habitat management guidance (to take account of relevant species needs) by the end of April 2009. Implementation of the existing priority habitat action plans will continue in parallel with this process.

Baseline information on the status of the priority species and habitats was taken from experts to show the degree of threat and rate of decline in habitats and species in the UK to substantiate the listing. Good information was available for some, but for others, it was more limited. Information gaps will be addressed through a UK surveillance strategy being developed by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Experts also provided information on the importance of the species and habitats from an international perspective.

The next reporting round under the Biodiversity Action Plan will take place in late 2008 and will assess progress on the original list of priority species and habitats. Subsequent rounds will report progress on the new list and we will need to consider with the devolved administrations how UK progress is to be assessed in the light of deliberations currently being undertaken at the country level.

Not all species will need discrete plans as the UK Biodiversity Partnership is adopting the ecosystem approach which focuses on causes rather than symptoms. There is no specified timetable for the completion of the action plans but experts across the UK Biodiversity Partnership are already being consulted on which species would require individual management action and which would benefit from collective action. Natural England, as lead delivery body in England, will then prioritise the species found in England and identify lead partners where appropriate. Similar arrangements are being put in place in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with joint working between countries where this will assist in securing conservation benefits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of the species on the UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority list occur in England; and how many of these were listed due to severe decline. (167754)

931 of the UK priority species occur in England, of which 283 qualified for listing owing to severe decline.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which habitats on the UK biodiversity action plan priority list occur in England. (167756)

57 habitats of the 65 on the UK list of priority species and habitats occur in England. They comprise woodlands, lowland agricultural habitats, heathlands, wetlands, upland habitats, coasts and seas. For the first time, recognition has been given to the critical role of several habitats new to the listing, including traditional orchards and ponds. A full list of the habitats in England follows:

BAP Habitats in England

Aquifer fed naturally fluctuating water bodies

Arable field margins

Blanket bog

Blue mussel beds

Calaminarian grasslands

Coastal and floodplain grazing marsh

Coastal saltmarsh

Coastal sand dunes

Coastal vegetated shingle

Estuarine rocky habitats

Eutrophic standing waters

Fragile sponge and anthozoan communities on subtidal rocky habitats

Hedgerows

Horse mussel beds

Inland rock outcrop and scree habitats

Intertidal boulder communities

Intertidal chalk

Intertidal mudflats

Limestone pavements

Lowland beech and yew woodland

Lowland calcareous grassland

Lowland dry acid grassland

Lowland fens

Lowland heathland

Lowland meadows

Lowland mixed deciduous woodland

Lowland raised bog

Maerl beds

Maritime cliff and slopes

Mesotrophic lakes

Mountain heaths and willow scrub

Mud habitats in deep water

Oligotrophic and dystrophic lakes

Open mosaic habitats on previously developed land

Peat and clay exposures

Ponds

Purple moor grass and rush pastures

Reedbeds

Rivers

Sabellaria alveolate reefs

Sabellaria spinulosa reefs

Saline lagoons

Seagrass beds

Sheltered muddy gravels

Subtidal chalk

Subtidal sands and gravels

Tide-swept channels

Traditional orchards

Upland birchwoods

Upland calcareous grassland

Upland flushes, fens and swamps

Upland hay meadows

Upland heathland

Upland mixed ashwoods

Upland oakwood

Wet woodland

Wood-pasture and parkland