Biodiversity in South Wales West

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:36 pm on 10 December 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:36, 10 December 2019

I thank David Rees for that. He's right, of course, to point to the real impact in the Afan valley of larch disease, and that has resulted in the need for felling of trees in that forest. We know that leaving some trees to rot, to provide habitats for insects and others, is important, but that's a minority, of course. And, as he says, other trees that have been felled need to be removed and dealt with in other ways. I think it's very important, Llywydd, that, in the Afan valley, the replanting, the restocking of that area provides a resilient forest for the future, and that's why NRW has taken the opportunity in the Afan valley to restock the area with a diverse range of trees. We understand that monoplanting of just single species leaves those areas vulnerable when disease strikes. To provide resilience, you need a wide range of different species, and that will make sure that we won't have a repetition of some of the species attacks that we've seen in parts of our woodland, not just with larch, but with ash and other species across Wales.