Forestry Policy

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:43 pm on 13 November 2019.

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Photo of Alun Davies Alun Davies Labour 1:43, 13 November 2019

I welcome that statement from the Minister. I particularly welcome the First Minister's commitment to a national forest. I think those are very important statements. I also welcome what is written in the latest iteration of 'Woodlands for Wales', which I think was published last year. In that document, I believe the Government sets out advice on climate change policy that it requires to move from planting a few 100 hectares at the moment, to 2,000 and then to 4,000 hectares of woodland in order to meet our climate ambitions. Could the Minister tell me whether it is the policy of Welsh Government that we will reach the European average for woodland cover, which I think is something like 38 per cent? Is that the policy of the Government? If that is not the policy of the Government, what is the objective of the Government in terms of woodland cover across Wales, and does the Government have a timescale by which it can deliver that objective?