Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Climate Change – in the Senedd at 1:07 pm on 16 June 2021.
I agree that this is a deeply worrying trend. The Welsh Government's plan is set out in our nature recovery action plan for managing biodiversity loss. We have created the nature networks fund with the National Lottery and we've invested close to £10 million in that. That is already showing its results in communities right across Wales. In the north in particular, Natural Resources Wales is funding Dee LIFE to restore natural habitats around the Dee and Bala lake special areas of conservation. The Member and I have had an exchange on social media recently about the impact that mowing practices across Wales can have in particular on biodiversity loss. I was pleased to note that the Llywydd even joined in with some helpful suggestions on how we might use the way that we manage our highways, but also the local authorities that manage the land in their operation. Having tapped into the knowledge and expertise of the Member, as a former cabinet member in Flintshire for highways, clearly there is some really good practice going on across Wales, and that was evident from the range of contributors to the thread. But there does seem to be some unevenness, and there seem to be things that others can learn from the practical experience they're having. So, Llywydd, I was very pleased that Carolyn Thomas has agreed to do a short piece of work for us, trying to collect examples of good practice from local authorities and then trying to identify what barriers might be being put in the way, preventing them from applying that more evenly, and making a set of recommendations to me and Julie James to see how we might address this and roll it out. Innovation is a great thing; diffusion is always the greater challenge. I very much welcome Carolyn Thomas's help in trying to spread good practice.