The Environmental Audit Committee has launched a new inquiry into halting biodiversity loss in the UK.

The UK and EU are committed to halting domestic biodiversity loss by 2010. The Wildlife and Countryside Link warned last year that the UK was on course to miss its own biodiversity target, and that 38% of target habitats and 27% of target species were still in decline. The RSPB has calculated that there is at least a £300 million per annum spending shortfall for biodiversity protection. The Environmental Audit Committee also found in a report last year that the Government is failing to provide adequate support and funding for biodiversity protection in the UK Overseas Territories, where some 240 species are at risk of extinction.

The full list of issues on which the Committee would welcome comment can be found at the Committee’s website. The deadline for submitting evidence is 2 June.

If you would like to contribute to the BES’s response, please contact the Policy Team