7. Statement by the Minister for Climate Change: Biodiversity

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:21 pm on 10 January 2023.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 6:21, 10 January 2023

Yes, thank you very much, Mike. You have raised it before, and I've said before, haven't I, about the Yellowstone project. If you watch the reintroduction of the wolves and what happens to the landscape, it's just an amazing transformation as the ecosystem goes back into equilibrium. So, it's very important for us to understand what that equilibrium should look like and to do that judiciously where that's necessary. We've already done that with some of the species in Wales. So, we have eagles and kites again in Wales, which we certainly didn't have before; the osprey project similarly. We are very interested to understand what does this ecosystem need and what should it look like, and then what are we trying to restore it to. I'm sorry to use this analogy, in a way, but it's a little bit like if you were restoring a period property—to what period are you restoring it?

We've had people on the landmass of Great Britain for thousands and thousands of years, so 'wild' is not something that it's been for a very long time. All our species are adapted to live alongside human beings—all of them, without exception. There's no mythical wild place to go back to, so the point is: what are we restoring it to, and how are we helping nature to adapt? As you put it, Mike, that whole ecosystem with a high-end predator involved, that's very important, but sometimes the high-end predator is us, of course, and we do need to take that into account.