What next for nature in Wales?

Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma

Last month, as part of our Revive Our World campaign, we sent a beautiful red kite sculpture to sit outside Cardiff Castle. The sculpture was a symbol of how nature can bounce back from the brink and acted as a call for a green and just recovery from Covid-19.

If we prioritise and invest in nature, it can help us bounce back from the Covid crisis while also putting a stop to the nature and climate emergency. As part of Revive Our World, our supporters sent thousands of emails to election candidates calling on them to be champions for nature, with some excellent results. We want to say thank you to all who took part, you helped to start a conversation at a crucial time for nature in Wales.

What next?

The people of Wales voted in the Senedd elections on 6 May. Welsh Labour won the greatest number of seats; with 30 seats in the Senedd they have just enough members to govern without having to form a coalition. At the moment, we also know that the Government will continue to be led by First Minister, Mark Drakeford MS.

We were delighted to hear that in one of the first statements made by the First Minister, the new government committed to putting the environment central to all decision making in Government. So we’re very hopeful about what this new Government could achieve for nature over the next crucial five years.

One important task the new Government will have on their desk is to write their ‘Programme for Government’. This sets out what the Government wants to achieve over the next five years, so it’s important that action to address the nature and climate emergency is central to this.

Our five steps to a green recovery manifesto outlines what we think the Government should focus on delivering over the next five years, our key asks include;

1. Creating sustainable jobs and infrastructure. We want to see investment in a National Nature Service, which could create up to 7000 full-time jobs working to restore nature. These jobs would support our recovery from the pandemic and provide fulfilling jobs for people, supporting our mental health and increasing our connection with nature.
   
   
2. Ensuring that we have strong environmental protections. We want the Government to put in place green legislation (such as planning reform), clear targets to restore nature and improved environmental protections, especially those that are needed to fill the gap caused by leaving the EU.
   
   
3. Invest in natural climate solutions. Restoring our peatlands, careful tree planting and restoring degraded habitats like saltmarsh will create a nature-rich land and seas and tackle problems like climate change, flooding and water pollution.
   
   
4. Letting nature help our citizens. We’ve all depended on nature more than ever throughout the pandemic, we want the Government to increase access to nature-rich green spaces, promote green prescribing (using nature to improve health and wellbeing) and create a healthy food strategy.
   
   
5. Showing strong leadership to make the nature and climate emergency central to all decision making. At the end of this year the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) will take place in Glasgow, which will give Wales the opportunity to show global leadership.

This new government have a lot to do to restore nature and our policy and advocacy team will be working hard to provide solutions to set the course towards a nature positive future for Wales. If you want to find out more about our five steps to a green recovery manifesto you can read the full document here.

Over the coming months we will have more exciting opportunities for you to help make these asks a reality by getting involved in the Revive Our World campaign, read more about the campaign here.