The Welsh Government’s Action Plan for the Food and Drinks Industry was announced last Friday and presents us with an opportunity to demonstrate real intent in progressing its ecosystem approach to land management in Wales.
We believe the Plan must embed sustainability at the heart of Welsh food production, distribution and consumption. This will help us to have a countryside that maintains its capacity to produce food, guarantees clean, abundant water, contains habitats such as bogs and forests that store carbon and gives nature a home.
We need to look at how, in Wales, food production, processing and marketing can support and promote environmentally beneficial farming systems, like High Nature Value (HNV) farming typically found in uplands areas. These extensive farming systems, in addition to producing quality food, maintain important wildlife and landscapes, and often deliver wider environmental benefits including securing water supplies, preventing flooding and maintaining habitats that store carbon. However, despite their obvious importance to society, we risk losing them because HNV farmers are struggling to make a living.
The Action Plan must help increase the economic value of the primary agricultural product (beef and sheep meat) from HNV farming, through emphasising and marketing the genuine environmental benefits of production.
If you want to read the Welsh Government’s Action Plan for the Food and Drinks Industry click on this link : http://wales.gov.uk/about/cabinet/cabinetstatements/2014/foodanddrinkactionplan/?lang=en