Latest Species Champions News

Species Champions seek answers from Government

08 April 2019

MP Species Champions have been busy tabling written Parliamentary Questions pressuring the Government to act to protect nature.  Layla Moran MP asked the Government about funding for biodiversity after 2020 and Hilary Benn MP sought reasons for the decline in water voles in England. Four MPs asked about protected areas for birds: Anna Turley MP asked whether Defra will classify the Bowland Fells SPA to include the lesser black-backed gull, while David Drew MP – Labour’s Shadow Farming Minister, Barry Sheerman and Debbie Abrahams asked about improving the protected areas network for curlew, bittern and dunlin respectively.  The work and support of our Parliamentary Species Champions remains vital in our efforts to ensure that the Government protects the environment both during and beyond Brexit.

Species Champion Winter Newsletter

01 February 2019

Issue number 6 of the Species Champion Newsletter has been published.

Matthew Offord to champion the Sandwich Tern

13 November 2018

Matthew, the Conservative MP for Hendon, is to work with the RSPB to champion the Sandwich tern, a seabird that visits the UK in summer to nest on sand and shingle beaches.

Yorkshire MP to champion the sandeel

03 November 2018

Robert Goodwill, Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, is to speak up for the sandeel, a small eel-like fish that lives in the seas around the UK and is a vital part of the marine food web.

MP installs another [swift] brick in the wall

20 September 2018

Kerry McCarthy, the Bristol East MP and champion of the swift visited a Barratt Homes development in Bristol and installed a swift brick. The bricks can provide the birds with an unobstrusive synthetic nest site and are part of a major effort to boost the population of declining swifts.

Health and Social Care Secretary to champion the dormouse

11 September 2018

Matt Hancock, the MP for West Suffolk, will be supporting the People’s Trust for Endangered Species by championing the hazel dormouse. This small mammal, with its large eyes and furry tail, can be found in some of Suffolk’s woodlands and hedgerows.

Bristol MP species champions visit nature friendly development

01 August 2018

Kerry McCarthy and Thangam Debbonaire, champions for the swift and shrill carder bee respectively, were given a guided tour of the work on the new student building at the University of Bristol – Brunel House. The developers have created a biodiversity friendly development which includes a planting scheme that supports pollinators and the provision of swift boxes to the exterior of the building.

A new species champion for the corn bunting

17 July 2018

Victoria Prentis MP for North Oxfordshire, will be working with the RSPB to champion one of our declining farmland birds, the corn bunting. These birds were once a common sight in the countryside, with a song that sounds like jangling keys!

South West MPs sweep the board at the Species Champions Annual Awards

02 July 2018

Kerry McCarthy MP, Derek Thomas MP and Peter Heaton-Jones MP all received awards at the second Annual Awards event that took place in Westminster. The awards were presented by Mike Dilger from the BBC’s The One Show and Kit Stoner, the chief executive of Bat Conservation Trust, spoke passionately about the importance of species conservation and what MPs can do to help threatened wildlife.