Green bridges are structures designed to provide wildlife and non-motorised users with easy and safe crossing of main roads and railways.<\/p>
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In 2015, Natural England published a review of the literature on green bridges. The review looked at 53 case studies from Europe and North America and found evidence that, in the majority of cases, green bridges were utilised by wildlife, although an assessment of their effectiveness in conserving wildlife populations was limited by the lack of long-term monitoring data. Guidance on the design of green bridges was also published by the Landscape Institute based on research undertaken by Natural England.<\/p>
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In 2015, the Government published research which included an assessment of the A21 Scotney Caste Green Bridge, constructed by the then Highways Agency, which found that of all incidences of bats crossing the road to and from the Scotney Castle Estate, 97 per cent used the green bridge. At least five bat species were recorded foraging over the bridge which was also used by deer, badger and breeding dormice.<\/p>
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The Government will keep the evidence for the effectiveness of these structures under review as new green bridges are planned and implemented.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4098", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dr Thérèse Coffey"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Suffolk Coastal"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Dr Thérèse Coffey"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-06-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-06-14T11:08:13.313Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "13"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-06-06", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Biodiversity"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the contribution that green bridges make to biodiversity.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1586", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Adam Afriyie"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Windsor"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Adam Afriyie"} ], "uin" : "261183"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130541", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/1130541/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Domestic biodiversity policy is a devolved matter. The UK government has a range of performance indicators for England, although we do also work with the devolved administrations to compile indicators at UK scale for international reporting.<\/p>
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In June 2019 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published its Single Departmental Plan<\/a> which includes biodiversity performance indicators for England, including: extent of marine protected areas and condition of protected sites and priority habitat.<\/p> <\/p> In May of this year, the Government published a new indicator framework<\/a> for the 25 Year Environment Plan, setting out a transparent, comprehensive framework that shows how the environment in England is changing and whether it is improving over time. These indicators include diversity and health of our seas, wildlife and wild places, and nature on land and water.<\/p> <\/p>