Wales Is Establishing A National Forest That Will Span The Length Of The Country

• Thomas Nelson
• April 2, 2020
• Nature, News, Politics
• 0 Comments

A new initiative led by First Minister Mark Drakeford will establish a massive national forest that will run the length and breadth of the country. The new national forest will connect other large scale tree planting projects and is intended to help fight climate change. It’ll also allow for some easier forest bathing!

“We have a responsibility to future generations to protect nature from the dangers of our changing climate, but a healthy natural environment will also offer protection to our communities from the dangers we ourselves face,” Drakeford said.

In 2012, the BBC reported that only 12% of land in Wales was forested, which is significantly less than pre-Neolithic levels of forestation. The deforestation of Wales was gradual, taking place over many centuries.

But the new national forest will help provide critical habitat to endangered animals native to Wales, like the red squirrel, Scottish wildcat, and the black grouse.

“The National Forest will be a Wales-wide asset, and communities across the country will be able to take part,” Deputy Minister for Housing and Local Government Hannah Blythyn said in a statement.

A total of £5 million ($5.7 million USD) has been provided to this project. Another £10 million will be allocated to other tree planting programs via the Glastir farm grants program.

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“While the plan to create a National Forest for Wales is a Welsh government initiative, the Woodland Trust is very much in support of this,” Rory Francis, Communications Officer at Woodland Trust told GNN.

“We were actually working to promote the idea even before the Welsh government and the First Minister personally, adopted the idea.”

The decision to designate a national forest of this scope has pleased environmental activists and scientists alike. Professor Mary Gagen, a climate scientist at the University of Swansea, told the BBC that the new national forest is an excellent step in the right direction and something to get excited about.

“What’s great is that this project also looks at habitat restoration, at retaining the trees we have at the moment, protecting our ancient forests and connecting areas so wildlife can use them,” she said.

The government intends to plant nearly 5,000 acres of forest per year ramping up to 10,000 acres per year in the near future.