Forestry

Reforesting Wales will become a national goal. We will develop and implement an action plan to deliver a minimum of 20 per cent tree cover in all urban areas. This will include strengthening regulatory oversight to protect green space. Tree felling will require a special license and the planting of additional trees in return.

Our forest creation target involves planting a 100,000 hectares of mixed woodland per decade in Wales, resulting in a total increase of 300,000 hectares by 2050.

We will ensure better active management of new and existing woodlands to improve habitat for wildlife and plant life, and ensure we plant a diverse selection of trees to protect against new diseases and pests with a ‘right tree in right place’ approach for forest restoration.

The ’hedges and edges’ approach will play a key part in helping achieve our targets and we will work with farmers and land managers, as part of their agri-environment role, to extend hedges, shelterbelts, stream side and field edge habitats.

Our forestry ambitions will extend into Welsh seas, with kelp forests and seagrass meadows contributing to our biodiversity and carbon reduction targets.

We will make Wales a deforestation-free nation by working with the UK Government to legislate to end the importation of goods that have caused deforestation. We will also introduce deforestation-free targets in procurement policy in Wales as part of our transition to utilising locally-produced and sustainable goods.