Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:25 pm on 26 June 2018.
I thank the Member for her contribution. I quite like that—'Plant A Tree in '73', 'Plant Some More in '74'. Perhaps we need to get ourselves some contemporary slogans to go with the woodlands strategy. I could be tempting fate by inviting contributions on that one, though.
You're right in terms of, actually, the importance of finding ways to value trees, and I'll definitely look into the King's College report that you mentioned; it sounds very interesting. I didn't know, but we actually do have rainforests in Wales as well. But, in terms of ways to value trees, I recently spoke at a Fields in Trust event, and what was really significant about that was that they placed—. We know the value of trees is the environmental, the social and the health and well-being and the broader multiple benefits they bring, but they'd actually contextualised it to say, actually, 'If you take this park away or if you take this green space away, it has this economic value to the community and the wider area'. I think it's really important that we are able to encapsulate that in a broader sense to really, really hit home to people the value that our green spaces and woodlands have.
Community woodland plays a vital part, which is why Welsh Government has things like the co-operative woodlands scheme, and working with Llais y Goedwig and the community network liaison to support community projects, and ownership in the sense of, actually—people feel an ownership, anyway, of the woodland near them or the green space, but actually ownership in the more literal sense. And it's access for young people, the Plant! project, for example, and I'm pleased that the strategy just emphasised the role that woodlands and green space, forest, play in terms of education, because I don't think you can underestimate that, for some children, getting them outside in a forest school, taking part in eco-schools, you see a complete change and the opportunities that brings. So, that's also something I'm keen to explore with my colleague the Cabinet Secretary for Education in terms of, actually, that can be aligned in terms of the new curriculum going forward and how actually we can make sure from a younger age—and sustain that into secondary school too—more young people not only benefit from our green spaces and woodland, but also, actually, potentially have an opportunity through that to develop skills and a future career pathway as well.