Welsh Government accused of ‘hypocrisy’ by Welsh Secretary after cutting down 850,000 tonnes of trees

Martin Shipton

Welsh Secretary David TC Davies has accused the Welsh Government of hypocrisy for ordering farmers to plant trees on 10% of their land at the same time as it is felling 850,000 tonnes of trees for timber every year in forests it owns..

Many members of Wales’ agricultural community have joined protests against policy plans they claim threaten their livelihoods and the very future of farming.

The focus of anger is the Welsh Government’s post-Brexit Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), which is due to replace the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) style of payments to farmers in 2025.

Every farm in Wales is being asked to reduce working land, instead having 10% tree cover and 10% habitat creation to qualify for public funding. Many believe this will risk vital food production.

Yet at the same time, trees grown on woodland managed by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) – Wales’ biggest quango – are chopped down and sold each year.

Backlash

Around 850,000 tonnes of timber are produced annually from the Welsh Government’s own forests, prompting a furious backlash from Mr Davies, who has many farmers in his Monmouth constituency.

Mr Davies said: “This is sheer hypocrisy. On the one hand, ministers in Cardiff Bay are telling farmers they are so important to tackling the climate emergency that they need to sacrifice 20% of prime agricultural land for planting trees and other wildlife schemes. But on the other hand, they are more than happy for their quango to chop down trees from their own forestry land to be sold.

“It is absolutely outrageous, especially when I am given to understand that NRW does not have the resources to replant the trees it is felling.”

Mr Davies visited farmer Lyndon Edwards at Dingestow in his constituency. He said: “Lyndon explained how every inch of his farmland is already being used, including growing barley for cattle feed and growing clover for sheep – which is also a nitrogen fixing crop. These unworkable and barmy proposals to take 20% of land out of production for tree planting and habitat creation, alongside a checklist of 17 other complicated rules, present a very real barrier for many farmers in Wales. For large numbers, it is going to severely impact their viability and capacity to produce food.

“However, thousands of trees are being grown on forestry land owned by the Labour Welsh Government. But these trees don’t last because every year they cut down 850,000 tonnes and sell them commercially.

“So land like Lyndon’s, which is perfect for growing crops or grazing livestock, will now be set aside for Labour’s tree planting schemes. While Labour is seemingly content to chop down trees on forestry land, which is perfect for growing trees in the first place.

“It all goes to show the Welsh Government cannot see the wood for the trees. Of course, the real worry is that farmers will end up stuck with a whole load of trees and no money coming in if the Welsh Government changes its mind further down the line.”

Public consultation

Mr Davies added he is “strongly encouraging anyone who hasn’t already done so” to make their views known and respond to the public consultation on the SFS, which closes on March 7. Comments can be submitted at www.gov.wales/sustainable-farming-scheme-consultation

A Welsh Government spokesperson responded: “Farming is very important both to Wales and to our economy and we want a successful future for Welsh farming.

“The proposed scheme requirement for 10% tree cover includes existing broadleaf and coniferous woodlands, as well as individual trees scattered throughout fields and hedgerows.

“We are not proposing farmers plant an additional 10% over and above the trees they already have. Our woodland estate is managed to international standards of forest management – with restocking being an important part of maintaining potential harvestable timber for the future.”

Assets

The spokesperson added: “Where additional planting is required, we continue to explore how additional trees can be integrated into the farm in a way they become an asset such as through the creation of shelterbelts which have a direct benefit to livestock and to the farm business.

“We have been clear we expect changes to be made following the consultation, and we will continue to listen. The First Minister [Mark Drakeford] and Rural Affairs Minister [Lesley Griffiths] provided an update recently on a number of key areas to support the sector.

“The volume of timber harvested from the Welsh Government Woodland Estate each year is calculated in accordance with NRW’s key objective, Sustainable Management of Natural Resources. The figure of 850,000 comes from NRW’s publication Natural Resources Wales / Forestry: Supply Timber We do this by producing around 850,000 tonnes of timber each year, from our own forests.”