Confor responds to Climate Change, Environment and Rural Affairs Committee inquiry into forestry and woodland policy in Wales.
7 April 2017
Following on from a meeting with Mark Reckless AM, on the Confor stand at the Royal Welsh Show last year, where Confor highlighted the lack of woodland and forestry creation, and questions in the Senedd by Paul Davies, AM for Preseli Pembrokeshire and Mark Isherwood, North Wales AM on similar issues surrounding the forestry sector, the inquiry is asking for comments and evidence on the Welsh Government’s delivery of its Woodlands for Wales strategy.
The inquiry in particular is asking for comment on how the delivery of woodlands for Wales Strategy is contributing to:
- Responding to climate change – coping with climate change and helping reduce Wales’s carbon footprint;
- Woodlands for people – serving local needs for health, education and jobs;
- A competitive and integrated forest sector – innovative, skilled industries supplying renewable products from Wales;
- Environmental quality – making a positive contribution to biodiversity, landscapes and heritage, and reducing other environmental pressures.
Martin Bishop Confor manager in Wales notes “we have lobbied hard to raise awareness on the lack of woodland and forestry creation in Wales and this is an important opportunity to ensure our concerns are heard at the highest levels in Welsh government. We all know forestry delivers multiple benefits and it is important we continue to make sure the rest of welsh society, NGO’s government and civil servants also know how the forestry sector can help them deliver their ambition across a huge range of policy objectives. We are also making arrangements for members of the committee to visit forestry sites and wood processing companies across Wales so they can see the scale of the sector, the economic importance and the many benefits from having a vibrant forestry sector”.