6. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs: The Future of Land Management

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:41 pm on 8 May 2018.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 5:41, 8 May 2018

David has done exactly what I was going to do, so I'm not going to reiterate everything that he's said, but I do think that there has been a view in the past about crops and trees competing for space. So, what I would like to see is a joined-up approach between those two parts of agriculture, and looking at agroforestry, where the trees can be planted alongside the crops, and that in turn would boost production, and challenge that orthodoxy, which you reiterated here today.

You mentioned, quite rightly, the fact that, by putting trees on the land, you can also manage the floods that very often happen, and we've seen an awful lot of evidence of that. But it can also create a greater biodiversity and soil conservation. When we talk about nitrous vulnerability, if trees were planted alongside, you might not have the same level of run-off that is poisoning our rivers. So, it's about an imaginative approach, and the carbon capture and storage hasn't been mentioned yet, but it is significant.

I'm glad that you do recognise, Cabinet Secretary, the need to plant more trees. We on the committee, and others here, look forward to seeing the green shoots of that. And since David has said most of the things I was going to say, I will end there. Thank you.