Since NRW’s inauguration seven years ago, there has been a steady and noticeable deterioration in Wales\u2019 delivery toward biodiversity and nature conservation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wales has been described as one of the most nature depleted areas of the world. Many of its native plant and animal species having already become extinct. A great number of the species that do remain are now rare or threatened, surviving in fragments of their often isolated habitats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In August 2019, INCC launched its petition. The petition calls on Welsh Government (WG) to explicitly include \u2018Biodiversity\u2019 when setting their strategic remit for Natural Resources Wales (NRW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Currently, \u2018biodiversity\u2019 is not explicitly included in NRWs remit \u2013instead, it is assumed that protection of biodiversity will be incorporated as part of \u2018sustainable management\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petition was brought to the attention of the Welsh Parliament (WP) with the hope of increasing the transparency of the WG and NRW regarding its biodiversity duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petition has been met with an ardent rebuttal from the Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs (Lesley Griffiths AM), suggesting that NRW\u2019s biodiversity remit is clear and that the organisation is delivering for nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, with wildlife in Wales disappearing, both in terms of biodiversity and biomass, INCC believes that greater transparency is needed from Government and statutory organisations. The people of Wales need to be able to see exactly what is being done for nature conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Given the right commitment and leadership, INCC believes that Wales still has a chance of reversing the tragic declines in wildlife – but only if action is taken now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Minister\u2019s rebuttal to the petition refers to the \u2018tools\u2019 (polices and documents) intended to deliver action for biodiversity. INCC believes that the deeper problem is not the strength (or otherwise) of the tools at hand but the lack of their application. In fact, celebrating the \u2018tools\u2019 alone without acknowledging the lack of action creates a misleading delusion of success regarding biodiversity delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For NRW to be more accountable to the people of Wales on biodiversity issues there needs to be specific detail from the organisation. Far more transparency is needed over its on-the-ground actions to deliver for biodiversity. Without greater detail, transparency and accountability over biodiversity actions, there is the very real risk that the situation for wildlife in Wales will continue to worsen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The petition closed on February 14th, 2020 and received over 1,100 signatures from people all over Wales. Since the petition\u2019s close, INCC continues to provide additional evidence to the Petitions Committee to aid their decision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Since NRW’s inauguration seven years ago, there has been a steady and noticeable deterioration in Wales\u2019 delivery toward biodiversity and nature conservation. Wales has been described as one of the most nature depleted areas of the world. Many of its native plant and animal species having already become extinct. A great number of the species […]<\/p>\n