New Environment Secretary: 'I find it heart-rending to see habitats of tigers and other species being destroyed'

Steve Barclay - banging drum for orangutans

NEW Environment Secretary Steve Barclay has made what is probably his first utterance on wildlife issues since taking on the post last month.

He said: "I find it heart-rending to see the way illegal deforestation is destroying the habitats of tigers, jaguars, orangutans and many other endangered species.

"I know many people across the world feel the same. Globally, we lose forests equivalent to the size of about 30 football pitches every minute."

In the New Year, the Government says it intends to introduce legislation to ban  companies, notably supermarkets, from sourcing goods produced as a result of   illegal deforestation.

This legislation will see businesses that have a global annual turnover of over £50-million and use over 500 tonnes of regulated commodities a year banned from using them if sourced from land used illegally. 

These businesses will also be required to undertake a due diligence exercise on their supply chains and to report on this exercise annually for purposes of  transparency.  

Continued Mr Barclay: "We will be  cleaning up supply chains to make sure that big businesses in the UK aren’t responsible for illegal deforestation.

"Shoppers need to be confident that the money they spend is part of the solution, rather than part of the problem."