Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:05 pm on 27 March 2019.
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?