Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma.
There was positive news for the future of Welsh farming
Tuesday (4 June) saw two major environmental announcements made by the Welsh Government. With the M4 officially scrapped, it was time to turn our attention to the future of farming in Wales. Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM, announced that the current payment scheme will be scrapped and replaced with one that puts nature and the environment at its heart.
The new scheme will use public money to pay farmers and land managers for delivering environmental benefits (public goods) and will also help farmers to make their business more profitable and sustainable.
This is excellent news for Welsh nature and we’d like to thank the 1,400+ of you that responded to the last consultation calling for a scheme that rewards farmers for their environmental contributions. We’re now gearing up to take part in the next step of the process, so watch this space to find out how you can help.
World Environment Day took over the Senedd
Along with WWF Cymru, we hit the Senedd to celebrate World Environment Day (5 June) and raise awareness of threats to local and global wildlife. Featuring speeches from Game of Thrones star, Iwan Rheon and Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths AM, the event saw attendees from various organisations come together to mark the occasion.
Inspiring speeches were also made by RSPB Cymru Director, Katie-jo Luxton, WWF Cymru’s Director Anne Meikle and Our Planet producer, Dan Huertas who showed the audience exclusive footage from the Netflix series.
More than 20 Assembly Members attended the event, with many taking part in our mission to fill Wales with wildlife by using our map of threatened species. With Wales being one of the most nature depleted countries in the world, we have created a visual representation of nature’s decline and how it could be reversed.
Thank you to John Griffiths AM (pictured above), water vole species champion and nature advocate in the Senedd, who kindly sponsored the event.
Wales’ Housing Minister spoke out on anti-bird netting
Following numerous concerns from members of the public, Wales’ Housing Minister Julie James AM has spoken out against the use of plastic netting on trees and hedges as standard procedure.
Netting to stop nesting birds shows "an imbalance in society's relationship with nature", the housing minister said. She also called for netting only to be used in ‘very limited circumstances’ and said that she’d been in contact with many of Wales’ councils about the issue.
We’re encouraged to see the Welsh Government listening to the public when they raise concerns about nature and sending a clear message that developers must act to maintain nature and reverse wildlife’s decline.
Over 1,000 of you called for better protections for Welsh wildlife
Finally, we would like to say another massive thank you to everyone who completed our latest e-action calling for better protections for nature when we leave the EU. More than 1,000 of you asked the Welsh Government to ensure that our current environmental standards are continued and improved in response to its Environmental Governance and Principles consultation.
The outcome of this consultation is of vital importance to the way in which our environment and treasured wildlife will be protected when we are no longer part of the EU, with this being just the first step.
As always, we’ll let you know how you can get involved in the next step of our campaign here and if you haven’t already you can sign up to be one of our campaign champions here.