8. Will the Minister make a statement on engaging communities in protecting biodiversity? OAQ54263

Our Environment (Wales) Act 2016 principles recognise that participation and collaboration are essential for the sustainable management of natural resources. Community engagement is therefore integral to our approach, as shown by our Caru Gwenyn scheme, which encourages communities to help make Wales one of the most bee-friendly nations in the world.  

Minister, thank you for that answer. There’s a bit of a buzz in the air in Pontypridd, because Pontypridd has been named by Natural Resources Wales—it’s been given the status of official bee-friendly town with support of Pontypridd Town Council and the Pontypridd business improvement district, as a result of all the schemes. But there is a sting in the tail, Minister—[Interruption.]—and that is that there is no way of really recognising it. And I really wonder if you could do two things, Minister—firstly, to write to Pontypridd Town Council and to the Pontypridd BID to congratulate them on the wonderful work they’ve been doing, and secondly, surely there should be some way that Welsh Government should be facilitating plaques to go up in towns and enable this to happen. That will certainly increase the buzz.

I was trying to think how I could get one in, but I couldn’t think quick enough. I'll concentrate on the answer. And the First Minister's quip—you, sadly, already said it. I certainly offer my congratulations to Pontypridd in receiving their bee-friendly award. I know the community worked really hard to create those pollinator-friendly food sources—the spaces. And also they raised awareness in an excellent way of the need for pollinators. As I was saying in another answer, I think it's really important that we all monitor that, so I think just raising awareness will help that. I certainly hadn't thought of plaques, but I'd be very happy perhaps to speak to Keep Wales Tidy, who do the eco-school project, for instance, to see if there's any way we can look to doing that. But I certainly am very happy and I will write to Pontypridd Town Council.

The LIFE and biodiversity fund of the European Union for reviving certain species and funding environmental projects has invested €65 million in Wales over the last 25 years, and the fund bridges research, development and inclusion, and it funds innovative technologies too. There are a number of projects that have been funded through this, including Celtic forests and essential peat bog restoration. So, I'd like to ask the Minister, therefore: have you asked for assurance that the Westminster Government will fill the funding gap? And, if so, will the European Union have the right, and how will the Westminster and Welsh Governments respond to that?

Thank you. You raise a very important point. You'll be aware that we were promised we would not lose a penny if the UK did vote to leave the European Union, and that's certainly a promise not just myself but all ministerial colleagues, led by the First Minister, are ensuring happens. I know I've had conversations around funding for LIFE. I've been to a fantastic peat bog up in north-west Wales and seen the excellent restoration work that the LIFE funding had provided. So, it's really important that if we are going to meet our carbon reduction targets, react to the climate emergency in a way we would want to, that that funding is still available. So, those discussions are ongoing.

Biodiversity is an important part of the consultation exercise you're undertaking at the moment into supporting farms, and the farming community obviously will play a really important role in developing that biodiversity. One thing that is central to your consultation document is specific on-farm plans, individual farm plans, and individual land manager plans. What assessment have you made of the capacity to develop these plans if they are taken forward?

I appreciate they're in the consultation at the moment, but surely before you've put that proposal forward you've done some assessment as to the level of capacity that Government and whoever you contract this service out to have. Because we could potentially go from 16,000/17,000 applicants at the moment who've received support up to evidence we've received in committee of 40,000 applicants coming in, if you broaden it right out to that land manager interpretation that the Government employed in the first consultation.

Thank you. Farmers certainly are part of our response in relation to biodiversity. The farm I visited to launch the consultation, the field I was standing in, the farmer told me very proudly that there was between 90 and 100 tonnes of carbon per hectare stored in that field. So, you can see why farmers are so important in relation to biodiversity. Of course, we have looked at the capacity. We're not starting from a blank page. We've got Rural Payments Wales. We have always said that it is Welsh Government that will obviously bear the brunt of those resource issues. So, I am confident that if the consultation goes the way that we think it will, and people will want that single scheme, because certainly that was what farmers and land managers who responded to the first consultation told us, that we will have the capacity to do it. But, I'm not underestimating it; it is a huge undertaking. 

Thank you to the Minister.