OPIN-2022-0255 Hedges, edges and tree planting
(e)
Tabled on 02/02/2022
This Senedd:
1. Recognises the need to increase trees on farms, to urgently mitigate the climate and ecological emergency.
2. Notes that an agreed quality of hedges and shelterbelts, planted freshwater courses and edges, and expanded wood pasture will:
a. assist agricultural sustainability
b. improve animal welfare and food sovereignty
c. reduce floods and soil loss
d. protect and increase carbon stores
e. restore freshwater
f. increase wildlife
3. Notes this delivers approximately half of Wales’s tree targets, utilising less than 4 per cent of agricultural land.
4. Supports Hedges and Edges, a universal part of the sustainable farming scheme, providing direct support for farmers, and substantial public benefits.
