Written Statement - Ecosystem resilience and diversity funding, in line with the ‘Living Wales’ approach

I would like to inform Assembly Members that I am making available £1 million to support the development of projects to enhance ecosystem resilience and diversity.  Ecosystems provide a wide range of vital services including food, clean water, timber and energy.  Healthy ecosystems also help to regulate climate, water supply and air quality.  The funding will be available for activities that support the Welsh Government’s plans for managing the natural environment as set out in its Natural Environment Framework consultation, ‘A Living Wales’.  The type of activities envisaged include restoring priority habitats like native woodland, wetlands and grasslands, improving connectivity between separate protected areas and managing the impact of invasive non-native plant and animal species. 
 
Making this fund available reflects the importance I attach to achieving increasingly resilient and diverse ecosystems that can be managed to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits for Wales.