Biodiversity in South Wales West

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:32 pm on 10 December 2019.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 1:32, 10 December 2019

I thank the Member for that supplementary question and for the work that she does as the species champion for the fen raft spider. As she says, there are only a tiny cluster of sites in south Wales now that support that spider, and it's a good example of why urgent action is needed to reverse the decline in species and in biodiversity across Wales. Of course, Caroline Jones is right as well to point to the importance of the dunes and the ecosystem that it supports in the Kenfig burrows area. Llywydd, I pointed to investment that the Welsh Government is making—nearly £0.5 million there—but that's only part of what we are doing with others in that part of Wales. There is the sustainable management scheme, the Dunes 2 Dunes project—another £312,000, focusing on the landscape between Kenfig burrows and Merthyr Mawr warren, again a place where we are managing dunes habitat to improve biodiversity and to provide benefits to the local community.

I know that NRW and Bridgend County Borough Council are working together to make sure that there is a long-term plan to create a resilient ecological network in that part of Wales, just as we are in so many other parts of our very beautiful nation.