5. Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Nature, biodiversity and local places for nature

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:30 pm on 12 October 2021.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:30, 12 October 2021

Thank you very much, Mike. I do agree entirely with you. One of the things that we are aiming to do in advance of COP is look to see what we can do to assist people to plant trees, emphasising the right tree in the right place. So, for people lucky enough to have gardens that can support big trees, we can make sure that they can do that and have assistance to plant those trees so that they thrive and grow. We can also make sure that people have advice about what is the right kind of tree.

We've also—I'll just say as an aside—started a piece of work with the insurance industry, because many people have buildings insurance that says that they shouldn't have trees within a certain number of metres of their house. What we don't want is to encourage people to cut trees down in a mistaken understanding of what the root systems do and so on. So, it's all about the right tree in the right place for the right purpose. So, we will certainly be doing that.

We'll also be having a look at—. Well, we're already having a look across public land in Wales to make sure that those people who don't have gardens will also have access to space where we can plant community orchards and other kinds of trees and other plantations. I'm very interested in the model on the continent of a 'tiny forest' as it's called—a perfect, biodiverse forest on the size of a tennis court. So, I'm very interested, especially for urban areas, in what we can do for that and we're working with a large range of partners, looking for suitable sites for those kinds of initiatives.

In terms of the apex predators, we certainly are very concerned that apex predators, particularly raptors, are protected across the lands of Wales. So, we need to work with our farming and other landowning communities to make sure that they understand the right thing to do to ensure that raptors are protected and enhanced, and that we don't have mistaken targeting of raptors in farming communities. We've worked really hard already on really great projects like—I know you're very familiar with it, Mike—the red kite project, the introduction of the red kite, which has been a real example of what can be done when people work together.

I'm also very interested—and I'm not speaking on behalf of the Government here, just myself—in the reintroduction of apex predators across the world. Anyone who has seen the project in Yellowstone on the reintroduction of the wolves knows what the apex predator can do to restore the landscape. Elsewhere in the UK, in Scotland, beavers have been reintroduced into some landscapes. So, we will certainly be looking to work with our landowners and our scientists and our nature people to understand (a) how to protect the apex predators that we still have, and (b) where, if possible, to introduce apex predators elsewhere in Wales.