Birds: Special Protection Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she plans to instruct Natural England to develop proposals for new Special Protection Areas for vulnerable bird species.
Answered by Mary Creagh
In May 2025, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) released the Third Special Protection Areas (SPAs) Review (Phase 2), assessing the UK’s SPA network and its protection of bird species. The report offers guidance from JNCC and the UK’s four statutory conservation bodies, which administrations must consider. Ministers and agencies, including Natural England (NE), are reviewing it. A key focus is to ensure that existing sites are in favourable condition, but the Government may also, if necessary, direct NE to implement the report’s recommendations, including designating new SPAs.
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