Minister for Environment John Cortes was a speaker at an event in the House of Lords on Tuesday evening.  

A statement from the Government follows below:

Introduced by former Minister of State for Environment and the Overseas Territories and now environmental campaigner Lord Zac Goldsmith as a ‘Legend of Nature Conservation’, Prof Cortes addressed a gathering of Peers, MPs and representatives of environmental NGOs. He highlighted his work on the protection of Nature from an early age and his involvement in environmental advocacy for over five decades. He then detailed some of the work done by the Government of Gibraltar, focusing on his support for the current campaign in the UK centered on requiring new construction projects to provide swift nest sites. While this has been a standard Planning requirement in Gibraltar since the early 1990s, thanks to the Minister’s own campaigning while General Secretary of GONHS, there has been resistance by successive UK administrations in introducing the measure. This is resulting in a decline in the swift population of the UK, leading conservation NGOs there to worry about their survival as a nesting species in Britain. 

Prof Cortes stressed the success of the decades-long practice in Gibraltar, explaining that it is a simple, inexpensive measure with clear positive results, having protected the swift population in Gibraltar and resulted in new colonies being established. His words were very well received by all present.  

Also speaking at the event were Lord Goldsmith, who asked Peers and MPs to support the measure in the UK Parliament, and author Hannah Bourne-Taylor, who is leading the campaign to make this a requirement in UK and who has recently published a book on the subject titled ‘Nature Needs You”. Labour MPBarry Gardiner, a formerBiodiversity Minister, also addressed the meeting as did Liberal Democrat Peer Baroness Parminter. 

Speaking after the event, Minister Cortes said: “It was a real honour to be at this event and speak about our conservation work in Gibraltar.I hope our positive record in Gibraltar and our experience as a Government that cares for Nature helps improve biodiversity conservation in the UK. We have a lot to be proud of and it’s a pleasure to share good news stories and is very fulfilling to be considered an example of good environmental practice to others.”