Welsh Government funding of £19m will help protect ancient woodlands
The funding aligns with the government's newly-outlined strategy to enhance the protection of Wales' ancient woodlands and trees.
Huw Irranca-Davies, deputy first minister and cabinet secretary for climate change and rural affairs, said: "Wales' ancient woodlands are of international importance and have an important place in the landscape and history, protecting carbon-rich soils and seed banks beneath them.
"They take centuries to form and are an irreplaceable resource."
As part of this new approach, the government will focus on improving the resilience of temperate rainforests, as pointed out by the Alliance for Wales' Rainforests.
Mr Irranca-Davies said: "Planning Policy Wales has been strengthened to provide a stronger framework for local planning authorities to secure the protection of ancient trees and woodland.
"We are revising our Tree Preservation Order regulations as part of the work on the Planning (Wales) Bill."
The Welsh government also made recent amendments to forestry legislation, which now allows Natural Resources Wales to better protect veteran trees and ancient woodland during felling operations.
Further initiatives include the implementation of recommendations from the four-year review of the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021.
These will introduce measures specifically designed to contribute to achieving statutory emission reduction commitments.
Under the Sustainable Farming Scheme proposals, optional actions will be provided to manage existing woodlands, including ancient woodlands, to increase their condition and resilience.
The government will engage with stakeholders and consider budget availability before implementing these actions.
The strategy also includes initiatives to improve air quality and reduce air pollution's negative impact on ancient woodland sites.
The National Forest for Wales programme has provided support to restore and maintain ancient woodland through various schemes.
Mr Irranca-Davies said: "Our approach does not intend to be an exhaustive list of all the possible threats and interventions, but a focus on the strategic priorities.
"It brings together work across government departments and their stakeholders which strengthen protection for our irreplaceable ancient woodlands."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
38 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
New proposals launched to tackle littering in Wales
Members of the cross-party group on litter, fly-tipping, and waste reduction will put forward the manifesto proposals on Tuesday, June 10, at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay. The document is supported by organisations including Keep Wales Tidy, Fly-tipping Action Wales, and the Marine Conservation Society, who will be at the event. Mick Antoniw MS, the group's chairman, said: "Littering and fly-tipping are issues that voters care deeply about and where leadership, a more effective use of existing legislation, and a bolder approach to enforcement and penalties can help deliver the Wales we all want to see. "We hope that our proposals will be of assistance to all political parts at the Senedd in compiling their manifestos for the 2026 Senedd election." Owen Derbyshire, CEO at Keep Wales Tidy, added: "The spike in littering rates across Wales is deeply worrying. "We urgently need the next Welsh Government to prioritise bold, radical, and preventative actions to tackle litter at its source." He also said that Keep Wales Tidy 'warmly welcome' the recommendations made by the Senedd Cross Party Group on Litter, Fly-Tipping and Waste Reduction. Mr Derbyshire expressed hope that the political parties will take them into serious consideration when developing their manifestos.
Pembrokeshire Herald
13 hours ago
- Pembrokeshire Herald
Mr Chips reigns supreme in Pembrokeshire's best fish and chips poll
CAMPAIGNERS warned it will be 'impossible' to hold the Welsh Government to account on progress against its disabled people's rights plan due to a lack of concrete targets. Mark Isherwood, who chairs the Senedd's cross-party group on disability, raised concerns that many of the long-term objectives in the draft ten-year plan lack firm commitments. He said Natasha Hirst, who was part of ministers' disability rights taskforce, pointed to a lack of funding to implement the plan as well as a scarcity of clear, robust targets. Mr Isherwood also quoted Joe Powell, chief executive of All Wales People First, who said: 'For this plan to succeed we need the appropriate investment into the infrastructure and services to make this aspiration a reality. 'We need clear targets about how we are going to achieve this. Without these, it is very difficult to see how the plan will make a difference to disabled people in Wales.' The Conservative told the Senedd: 'Damian Bridgeman, who chaired the disability rights taskforce's housing and community working group, said the draft document was a smokescreen rather than a plan. 'He pointed to the absence of new money and a mechanism to track delivery of the action plan further, adding that, 'disabled people have been reviewed to death, what we need is action – and there's none of that here'.' He said Mr Bridgeman described the plan as a 'collection of vague intentions dressed up as progress', with 'no targets, no teeth and no real-world accountability'. Mr Isherwood, who has campaigned on disability rights for decades, warned the plan lacks a commitment to enshrine the UN convention on the rights of disabled people into Welsh law. The north Walian also warned the UK Government's plans to cut benefits risk further disabling people in Wales by compounding poverty and exclusion. During a statement on June 3, Jane Hutt described the plan as a landmark moment in the Welsh Government's commitment to ensuring an inclusive and accessible society for all. Wales' social justice secretary said: 'This plan is a ten-year blueprint for progress, designed to ensure its outcomes are realised through actions taken across government.' Ms Hutt cautioned that UK Government welfare reforms risk overlooking the circumstances and needs of disabled people, and more so in Wales than some other parts of the UK. Jane Hutt, secretary for social justice, trefnydd and chief whip She said the plan seeks to position Wales as a world leader in the social model of disability, which says people are disabled by barriers in society – not by their impairment or condition. Ms Hutt urged organisations and disabled people to have their say by responding to a consultation on the draft plan, which runs until August 7. Sioned Williams warned the plan has been a 'long time coming', with the taskforce set up after a 2021 report, entitled Locked out, into the impact of the pandemic on disabled people. Ms Williams told the Senedd: 'We must never forget that disabled people comprised 60% of deaths from Covid-19 in Wales, and many of those deaths were preventable and rooted in socioeconomic inequality.' Plaid Cymru's shadow social justice minister, Sioned Williams The Plaid Cymru politician stressed the importance of legally enforceable rights – 'rights that can literally be the difference between life and death'. Ms Williams warned planned welfare cuts cast a long, dark shadow over the plan, saying: 'The removal of this vital support doesn't simply reduce income, it rips away the safety net that many disabled people rely on to live with dignity.' She called for assurances that disabled and neurodivergent people will no longer be detained in secure hospitals in Wales, as highlighted by the Stolen Lives campaign. Jenny Rathbone supported efforts to embed the social model of disability because 'it is society that needs to change, not the individual who happens to have an impairment'. But she recognised that a huge amount of work still needs to be done. Julie Morgan, a fellow Labour backbencher, said the plan clearly shows the Welsh Government's commitment to making Wales an open, inclusive and accessible place. But Conservative Laura Anne Jones warned the plan 'falls short in many critical areas', with disabled people still facing systemic barriers to work, transport and access to services. South Wales East MS Laura Anne Jones She said: 'With rising living costs and sweeping cuts to support services alongside welfare, this plan feels more like a statement of intent than a blueprint for real action.'
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Angela Rayner faces Labour backbench rebellion over her plans to build 1.5million new homes in England by 2029
could face a backbench rebellion from Labour MPs over the party's drive to build 1.5 million homes in England by 2029. The Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary is fronting the Government's 'radical' overhaul of the planning system, which aims to revive housing targets for local councils and 'get Britain building again'. Its plans would require 370,000 homes to be built each year, which industry leaders claim there is 'little chance' of reaching as figures show the party is already falling short of its target by 170,000. And now, in the latest a blow to Ms Rayner's housebuilding goals, one Labour MP has threatened to trigger civil war over his demands to find a 'progressive alternative' to parts of her proposals. Labour 's Chris Hinchliff has proposed a suite of changes to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill ahead of its debate in Parliament on Monday. The North East Hertfordshire MP has suggested arming town halls with the power to block developers' housebuilding plans, if they have failed to finish their previous projects. He has also suggested housebuilding objectors should be able to appeal against green-lit large developments, if they are not on sites which a council has set aside for building. Mr Hinchliff has claimed he does not 'want to rebel' but said he would be prepared to trigger a vote over his proposals. He added his ambition was for 'a progressive alternative to our planning system and the developer-led profit-motivated model that we have at the moment'. Mr Hinchliff said: 'Frankly, to deliver the genuinely affordable housing that we need for communities like those I represent, we just have to smash that model. 'So, what I'm setting out is a set of proposals that would focus on delivering the genuinely affordable homes that we need, empowering local communities and councils to have a driving say over what happens in the local area, and also securing genuine protection for the environment going forwards.' Mr Hinchliff warned that the current system results in 'speculative' applications on land which falls outside of councils' local housebuilding strategies, 'putting significant pressure on inadequate local infrastructure'. In his constituency, which lies between London and Cambridge, 'the properties that are being built are not there to meet local need', Mr Hinchliff said, but were instead 'there to be sold for the maximum profit the developer can make'. Asked whether his proposals chimed with the first of Labour's five 'missions' at last year's general election - 'growth' - he replied: 'If we want to have the key workers that our communities need - the nurses, the social care workers, the bus drivers, the posties - they need to have genuinely affordable homes. 'You can't have that thriving economy without the workforce there, but at the moment, the housing that we are delivering is not likely to be affordable for those sorts of roles. 'It's effectively turning the towns into commuter dormitories rather than having thriving local economies, so for me, yes, it is about supporting the local economy.' Mr Hinchliff warned that the 'bottleneck' which slows housebuilding 'is not process, it's profit'. Among the proposed reforms is a power for ministers to decide which schemes should come before councillors, and which should be delegated to local authority staff, so that committees can 'focus their resources on complex or contentious development where local democratic oversight is required'. Natural England will also be able to draft 'environmental delivery plans (EDPs)' and acquire land compulsorily to bolster conservation efforts. Mr Hinchliff has suggested these EDPs must come with a timeline for their implementation, and that developers should improve the conservation status of any environmental features before causing 'damage' - a proposal which has support from at least 43 cross-party MP backers. MPs will spend two days debating the Bill on Monday and Tuesday. Chris Curtis, the Labour MP for Milton Keynes North, warned that some of Mr Hinchliff's proposals 'if enacted, would deepen our housing crisis and push more families into poverty'. He said: 'I won't stand by and watch more children in the country end up struggling in temporary accommodation to appease pressure groups. No Labour MP should. 'It's morally reprehensible to play games with this issue. These amendments should be withdrawn.' The prospect of a backbench rebellion sparks another blow to the Government's housebuilding plans just one day after a report cast doubt on whether it would be able to meet its 2029 target at all. A bleak report by the Home Builders Federation yesterday showed Labour is falling short of its target by 170,000 homes a year. Industry leaders said the data was 'disastrous' and without urgent support from ministers there is 'little chance' of reaching the goal. Just 39,170 homes were given planning permission in England in the first three months of the year – the lowest quarterly figure since records began. That was a 55 per cent drop on the previous quarter and almost 32 per cent lower than a year earlier. The 225,067 units given approval in the 12 months to the end of March was the worst performance in 12 years. The federation said its data 'starkly illustrates the urgent need for Government to address the barriers to housing supply' if they are to get 'anywhere near the much-vaunted' target.
