WILDLIFE habitats are being destroyed at unprecedented rate throughout
the country and the Government is doing little to stop it, a Labour MP
claimed yesterday.
Mr Hugh Bayley, MP for York, said thousands of miles of hedgerows were
ripped out each year and demanded laws to halt the destruction.
He spoke out as the International Biodiversity Convention, signed by
153 countries including the UK at last year's Earth summit in Rio de
Janeiro, comes into force. He said the Government had still to ratify
it.
''Scientists estimate that 140 plant and animal species are becoming
extinct every day and that half of all existing species are likely to
become extinct in the next 50 to 100 years, given present rates of
destruction of the tropical rain-forests,'' said Mr Bayley.
''The destruction of natural habitats is happening in temperate
countries too. Almost half of Britain's ancient broad-leafed woodlands
have been cut down since the Second World War.
''And the Government is about to announce plans to privatise the
Forestry Commission which has started to reverse the trend.
''Thousands of miles of historic hedgerows -- an essential feature of
the British countryside providing valuable wildlife corridors -- are dug
up every year. And the threat of future legislation is prompting farmers
to rip out remaining hedgerows at an unprecedented rate. It is no good
lecturing poor Third World countries about saving the rain-forests when
our own Government is doing precious little to stop the destruction of
valuable wildlife habitats in the British countryside.''
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