7. How does the Welsh Government help protect threatened species in Wales? OAQ53645

Thank you. The Welsh Government is committed to maintaining and enhancing populations of Welsh species through the nature recovery action plan. We must continue our work to increase the resilience of our countryside in order to support the continued survival of our most threatened species.

Thank you. Well, curlew is listed as globally near threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's red list of threatened species and is a red-listed bird of conservation concern in the UK. Minister, you may be aware that the 'State of Birds in Wales' report 2018 indicated that more than three quarters of the Welsh curlew population has disappeared over the last 25 years and will probably become extinct entirely as a regular breeding species within the Welsh landscape within 20 years without urgent conservation action. However, we learned last week that both collaborating-for-curlew bids for the Welsh Government's enabling natural resources and well-being in Wales grant by RSPB and British Trust for Ornithology were unsuccessful. Well, as the species champion in Wales for the curlew, I work closely with Gylfinir Cymru—the curlew Wales coalition—and I share their concern about the bird's future. What consideration, therefore, will the Welsh Government give to providing emergency support for curlew conservation measures so that we don't lose this species for good?

Thank you. I am aware that you are the species champion for the curlew and of the work that you do. Mark Isherwood may be aware of the Camlad valley project in Powys that was funded through our sustainable management scheme, and that's a farmer-led collaboration that is undertaking the restoration of traditional lowland wet grassland habitat. And that delivers a healthy and resilient diverse ecosystem to help ground-nesting birds, and the curlew is an indicator species for determining the success of that project. We've also got the enabling natural resources and well-being in Wales grants, and two of the applications that we've received are specifically related to conservation activity in relation to the curlew. Unfortunately, neither of them met the minimum threshold for funding at this stage, but I have asked officials to work with the applicants to see if there's anything further we can do to help them, because I do recognise that we need to take some really active work in this area.