6. Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Biodiversity

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:26 pm on 4 October 2022.

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Photo of Joyce Watson Joyce Watson Labour 5:26, 4 October 2022

I very much welcome your statement, Minister, and especially the headline commitment to triple peatland restoration. It's fantastic. For the record, I'm a long-standing RSPB member, so I'm especially pleased about what that's going to mean for ground-nesting species like black and red grouse and hen harriers, should they survive. But as well as being a unique habitat, peatlands are critical to our drinking water supply, and 70 per cent of UK drinking water comes from peat bog uplands, which prevent flooding and prevent wildfires too. Like planting trees, peatland restoration is key to carbon sequestration, so there are lots of good outcomes here in terms of our wider climate.

One of the recommendations of this, and it's just been talked about, is that connectivity, so I want to ask you, Minister, whether we're looking at all the opportunities of that connectivity, including the verges along our motorways and other areas, so that we can create those corridors. I know that lots and lots of that is being delivered very locally, but the importance to our pollinators of that connectivity can't be understated.