To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many qualified (a) lepidopterists, (b) botanists, (c) lichenologists, (d) bryologists and (e) mycologists are employed by his Department and its agencies; and if he will make an assessment of levels of recruitment and retention of personnel with qualifications in these disciplines. (284019)

[holding answer 3 July 2009]: The main focus of expertise in DEFRA for the fields listed is at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera).

Fera employs the following numbers of specialists in the fields covered by the question:

Fera has high levels of staff retention in the three specialisms in which staff are employed and, as a consequence, has no plans to recruit to these areas in the foreseeable future.