Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:38 pm on 25 May 2022.
Thank you, Carolyn, for introducing this debate—a great contribution there. I just want to say a few words, and it's picking up on the themes that you said. We can all play a role within this. This morning before I came in, I just happened to be flicking through a book that I've got on my bedside cabinet. It was Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin's Back to Nature: How to love life—and save it. They make this point about the head change that people have got to do, the mind change to actually allow untidy places—so, verges, edges. I've done, like a lot of people, the No Mow May. I've been doing it for a few years now. My youngsters have been encouraging me to do it. It's fascinating. There's three sorts of clover coming through there, all different sizes, shapes and colours. We've got natural vetch coming through in it, and, of course, the dandelions and daisies and so on. It looks beautiful and it's an absolute feast for wildlife. There's the hedges and edges campaign that's going on as well, about what can farmers do with their verges, a bit less manicured, a bit more untidy, with homes and habits for wildlife—flora and fauna. And also, there's what we can do with town councils and county councils in terms of pesticide-free communities. But it's all a head change—that's what we've got to do, and that's the exciting thing about this. It's actually making that leap to say, 'We've all got a part to play'—sometimes it takes bold decisions to do it, and then sticking with it, and we can make a real difference to biodiversity. So, Carolyn, thank you very much.