Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 2:00 pm on 17 July 2019.
I was recently at the opening of a community garden in Wharf Road in Newport, Minister, which I think was a valuable example of how you turn waste ground into an area with flowers and bushes and plants generally that's a valuable contribution. But what I wanted to ask about really was: would you agree with me that, where we have areas of land that are very important for biodiversity and have protections—and I'm thinking of the Gwent levels, which has a number of sites of special scientific interest—we must look to how we can further protect those areas? The Gwent levels are home to the shrill carder bee, which is endangered, sadly, but home to many other pollinators and many other valuable wildlife and plants and flowers and ecosystems. So, would you join me in looking to provide further protection and perhaps consider making the Gwent levels an area of outstanding natural beauty?