To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether compensatory habitats for large developments provided for under the EU Habitats Directive may be located in a member state other than the one where the development takes place. (235336)

In circumstances where a development is allowed despite an assessment that it will have a significant adverse effect on a Natura 2000 site, the Habitats Directive requires the member state to take all compensatory measures necessary to ensure that the overall coherence of the Natura 2000 network is protected.

The directive provides no further details, although non-statutory guidance from the European Commission states that compensatory habitat should relate to the same biogeographical region in the same member state and should be as close as possible to the habitat adversely affected by the development.