Tree Planting

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 4 March 2020.

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Photo of Angela Burns Angela Burns Conservative 1:55, 4 March 2020

I think Mike Hedges makes a really good point to bring this question up, because they are so important, and I really respect the 2020 target that the Welsh Government have of 2,000 hectares of trees to be planted per year. However, I am concerned that, in tandem with that, and, as a response to a freedom of information request submitted by the Welsh Conservatives, we established that, across the four NRW managed sites, where onshore windfarms are located, a total of 1,938,400 trees have been felled, which is the equivalent of 1,155 hectares of trees being lost. So, essentially, there's a hole in the bottom of this bucket, isn't there—as you are planting them, they're being felled. So, Minister, can you just give us some idea of the rationale behind that? And will you also then be committed to increasing your rate of replanting, given that NRW are felling almost as fast as Welsh Government are trying to plant?