Tree Planting

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 4 March 2020.

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Photo of Lesley Griffiths Lesley Griffiths Labour 1:53, 4 March 2020

Thank you. I recognise the wide-ranging benefits that planting trees, including for agroforestry, can bring. Increasing the woodland cover in Wales is a core part of our low-carbon delivery plan to tackle climate change and, as you say, it can also address poor air quality and flooding issues. One of the key priorities of the draft national strategy for flood and coastal erosion risk management in Wales is to deliver more natural interventions and catchment approaches to help improve environmental resilience and I think one thing that we have seen over the past month is you can't just keep building higher walls and using more concrete. We need to look at those natural interventions.

Our sustainable management scheme has also supported collaborative landscape-scale projects, and that takes action to improve the resilience of our natural resources across Wales and those include flood risk management on the River Clwyd, increasing resilience within our iconic Welsh woodlands in sites right across Wales, and nature-based solutions in the Dyfi catchment, and also revitalising our precious peatland and upland habitats throughout Wales. And I think you made a very important point at the beginning, Mike Hedges, that we can all play a part—if we're able to—by planting trees in our gardens.