Janet Finch-Saunders MS/AS criticeses Welsh Government for buying up more farmland for tree planting to compensate for woodland cut down for wind farms. Natural Resources Wales (NRW) have agreed to acquire sites totalling 260 hectares – the same area of woodland it manages on behalf of the Welsh Government which is expected be lost to new renewable energy projects up to 2026.
Commenting on this latest anecdote, Janet said.
“Absolutely hypocrisy has been shown by the Welsh Government who have spent the past few years hammering big companies such as British Airways on their carbon off-setting initiatives just to go ahead themselves and by up-land to offset themselves.”
The Welsh Government has declared that 43,000 hectares of new woodland will be created in Wales by 2030 – around 86 million trees – rising to 180,000 hectares by 2050, to help Wales meet its carbon emission reduction targets. However, only 290 hectares of trees were planted in Wales in 2020. Janet fully supports renewable energy projects being rolled out across Wales but opposes other green spaces and farmland being compromised as a result.
Commenting further on this, Janet said.
“The Welsh Government have a strong track record of over promising and under-delivering. This doesn’t stop short of its climate change policy. As a small nation, Wales can lead the way on new forestry programs and initiatives to see the mass decarbonisation of Wales. From day one, we knew that Welsh Labour would be unable to achieve the targets set by themselves, and it frustratingly prolongs the progress we can make at home.”
