Second State of Natural Resources Report for Wales Launched
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) yesterday published the second State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR) for Wales.
The report assesses how sustainable the management of natural resources is in Wales and calls for a transformation in the way we all live our lives to address the climate emergency and biodiversity crisis. The report concludes that Wales is not yet meeting the four long-term aims of sustainable management of natural resources, set in 2016, including:
Aim 1 – Stocks of natural resources are safeguarded and enhanced
Aim 2 – Ecosystems are resilient to expected and unforeseen change
Aim 3 – Wales has healthy places for people, protected from environmental risks
Aim 4 – A regenerative economy with sustainable levels of production and consumption
One key example is rivers – 66% of river water bodies are failing to achieve good ecological status under the Water Framework Directive and are facing significant pressure from widespread agricultural diffuse pollution and loss of connectivity between rivers and floodplains.
The report suggests that redesigning the energy, transport and food systems could help society to live within its environmental capacity and address the pressures causing the nature and climate emergencies.
NRW Chief Executive, Clare Pillman, said (Cymraeg):
Wales’s natural environment is our most precious inheritance, pivotal to our identity as a nation and, as has come into sharp focus over the last year, central to the health and well-being of our people and our economy… Today, we officially launch the second State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR2020) – a milestone publication which aims to inform the steps we and government must take in our endeavour to defend our environment in Wales.
The report is being published in two parts with the technical evidence and assessment of evidence needs expected in March 2021.