Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 15 February 2022.
Of course I recognise that tree planting has to be the right tree in the right place, and that is an integral part of the plan that we have. It is not simply about planting any sort of tree anywhere. It's to use land that is not available for other activities that farmers can carry out in Wales, and which have a commercial value, but to use land that is not useable in that way to grow a crop that will be to the benefit of us all as we face climate change.
I recognise the point that Jane Dodds makes. To plant trees is a long-term proposition, and if you're a short-term tenant, then you have to be able to reconcile those two things. We're aware of that, of course, and work with farming unions and others on it. I look forward very much to the visit we plan to make together, now that it will be easier, as we hope, to carry out such visits in Wales, and I look forward to discussing with farming unions in Wales the way in which they can assist their members to take advantage of what I believe is a major opportunity for rural Wales to play its part, as I know it wants to do, in tackling that major crisis of our time in climate change, and to do it in a way that rewards them for the contribution that they will make.