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Back in December 2016, you might remember Defra and Welsh Government consulted on whether to extend the number of hectares you can plant trees on without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Although planting trees is great for connecting habitats and providing homes for woodland species, some people don’t realise that if you don’t plant the right trees in the right places, it can actually be damaging to some habitats and wildlife. By carrying out an Environmental Impact Assessment you can identify whether you are planting the right tree in the right place, to avoid damage to precious wildlife and to ensure both people and nature get the greatest benefit.
Eleanor Bentall, rspb-images.com
You can currently plant up to 5ha of trees without having to do an EIA – which is still a lot! In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the five hectare threshold is already too high to protect many small habitats such as flower rich meadows, which have already declined by 97%. The consultation, however, proposed that you could extend this up to 20, 50 or 100 hectares in England, and up to 20 or 50 hectares in Wales! That meant anyone could plant trees across huge expanses of habitats that are really important for wildlife and people without checking whether it impacted on wildlife. This would have impacted on precious habitats like ffridd flower meadows and other grassland habitats. It could have been a huge loss for nature in Wales, but your voices helped prevent this damaging step from happening!
The Welsh Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths, announced on the 5 April: “Welsh Government has considered responses to the consultation [...] and as a result agreed to maintain the threshold for Environmental Impact Assessment. Welsh Government is now working with Natural Resources Wales to explore new approaches to the operation of EIA in the future. This will consider biodiversity implications.”
This is a huge win for nature in Wales, and we need to thank your efforts that this was achieved.