How you can help Sustain a Living Wales - by RSPB Cymru's Director

In February,I blogged about the launch of the Welsh Government’s Green Paper - Sustaining A Living Wales.

The Welsh Government is considering the most radical reform in a generation to how the environment is protected and managed. We’re really pleased that this vision, set out in the Green Paper, proposes moving to an “ecosystems approach” to managing the environment in Wales. In a nutshell, this means a management approach that recognises the value of protecting our environment and promotes more sustainable use of our natural resources – assuming it is done correctly of course.

However, while we welcome the ambition of this new approach we are concerned that Welsh Government are saying very little about what they intend to do to improve nature conservation in order to halt and reverse the declines in Wales’ biodiversity. The Welsh Government has a once in a lifetime opportunity in Wales to deliver an Environment Act that truly protects and restores biodiversity, which is fundamental if we are to see healthy, resilient ecosystems in Wales.

The RSPB is calling for:

• Protected sites to be retained and improved as important areas for wildlife
• The land and sea to be managed to support rather than damage Welsh wildlife outside of protected sites
• Recognition of the value of the natural environment and that it needs protection irrespective of the benefits it provides for us
• The new body which will oversee future management must be a strong champion for nature conservation

We need your help to demand that a stronger framework for conservation and the recovery of wildlife is at the heart of this new approach. If you can spare 10 minutes over your Easter break to step up for nature please help by responding to the Green Paper highlighting your love of Welsh wildlife and how the new approach must reverse the decline in species and habitats. A briefing including further information on the Green Paper and our concerns, as well as details of how to respond to can be found on our website: www.rspb.org.uk/walesenvironment

Katie-Jo Luxton, RSPB Cymru Director