RFS response to Welsh government consultation
4 November 2019There is disappointment that the Welsh government’s latest consultation ‘Sustainable farming and our land’ does not identify whether forestry would have the same access to funding as agriculture in the future.
In its feedback on the consultation, the Royal Forestry Society (RFS) points out that in a previous consultation, ‘Brexit and our land’, by the Welsh government last year the term ‘land manager’ had been used, holding out the prospect that all forms of sustainable and environmentally beneficial land use would compete with agriculture in equal terms for access to funding.
“The term ‘land manager’ has been dropped in this latest consultation and it is unclear whether all or only a part of forestry activity would be included in the scope of proposed Sustainable Land Management system,” said RFS chief executive Simon Lloyd.
“We believe forestry in all its diverse forms is vital to the Welsh government’s environmental goals and climate change targets. At a time when it is widely accepted that a rapid acceleration of tree planting is part of climate change responses, we hope the final report will acknowledge the importance of sustainable woodland creation and management schemes in developing policy proposals.”
The RFS’s full response can be read at https://www.rfs.org.uk/news/hot-topics/forestry-in-wales/)
