Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Rural Affairs and North Wales, and Trefnydd – in the Senedd at 2:34 pm on 22 March 2023.
Thank you very much to the Minister for that response. I want to move on now, if I may, to forestry. Around 15 per cent of Wales is covered with forestry of different sorts—around 316,000 hectares here. The trees are different, with various different species and different kinds of cover, individual trees, small woodlands or large forests. But the one thing that is common is that managed woodland does better than unmanaged woodland. Whether that management is for construction timber or fibre, biodiversity or habitats, flood management or leisure, you will need a timber permit in order to ensure that the woodland is managed at some point or another.
The new agriculture Bill, as it currently stands, is going to significantly change the licensing system in this area. I would therefore invite the Minister to set out her vision for woodland and forest management in Wales.