To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 1 April 2009, Official Report, columns 1256-57W, on Special Areas of Conservation: Cumbria, what assessment his Department has made of the recent effect of peat extraction on the Bolton Fell Moss Site of Special Scientific Interest on the site’s candidature for designation as a Special Area of Conservation. (278948)

Continued peat extraction over the longer term would have a negative impact on the nature conservation interests at Bolton Fell Moss. Natural England is currently in discussion with the company that owns the peat extraction rights over the measures needed to secure the future protection of the site, and it is hoped that an agreement on this will be reached in the next few months. Natural England’s current assessment is that damage caused by peat extraction can be reversed and the nature conservation interest fully restored.