I too welcome this debate today and the ‘State of Nature 2016 Wales’ report, in which I think many organisations have played a very valuable part in helping to produce and highlight. Of course, there are causes for concern, which Members have already mentioned, and a need for the Welsh Government and other public bodies to act to address those concerns.

As with other Members here, I am a champion, through the Wildlife Trust, for a particular species—in my case, the water vole. The decline in the water vole population in Britain is quite dramatic. In fact, it’s the most serious decline of any wild mammal in Britain in the last century. Between 1960 and 2004, it’s estimated that that fall was around 95 per cent. So, obviously, there are very serious concerns in terms of the water vole population in Wales, and beyond Wales in terms of Britain as a whole. So, the organisations concerned with biodiversity and the water vole population highlight habitat loss, as you would expect, and fragmentation of habitats as factors involved in that decline; predation by mink, of course, which has been a big factor; water abstraction and pollution of the waterways; and management of reens and ditches, and the role of intensive agriculture in that. So, there’s probably a reasonable degree of consensus in terms of the prime causes of that fall in water vole population and also, I think, quite a degree of agreement in terms of what needs to be done—some of the things that most need to be done to address that decline—so, reintroduction programmes for water voles, control of the mink population, restoration of habitat and reversal, and certainly a halting of the decline in the habitat that supports them; that’s waterways and riverbanks and more extended areas of natural habitat not fragmented by development. So, when we look at all of those issues, Llywydd, I think it’s clear that the environment Act and the well-being of future generations Act, as mentioned by others, are absolutely vital to the general picture and to water voles as well. We need to make sure that they are implemented as effectively as possible. For me, I guess, locally, my experience of the water vole population is mainly around the Gwent levels. We have got an amazing network of reens and waterways there. They have been carefully managed over the centuries. Nonetheless, they are under threat, of course. One of the main threats is the proposed M4 relief road across the Gwent levels. So, I think it will be a major test of the legislation that I have referred to as to whether the biodiversity issues, including the water vole population, are adequately and sufficiently factored into decision making on that particular proposal. Certainly, I am working very closely with the wildlife trusts and a range of other organisations to try and get the key message across—that it’s no good to anyone in terms of ensuring good biodiversity in Wales if we are talking the talk, as it were. When it comes to key decisions, we have to walk the walk.