Woodland memorial ‘hasn’t had carbon footprint appraisal’
THE Welsh Government has not carried out a carbon footprint assessment of a proposal to create a woodland memorial to those who have died in Wales after contracting Covid-19, it has emerged.
Concerns have already been expressed about the decision to site one of three such memorials on farming land at Llangadog in Carmarthenshire.
The 233-acre Brownhill Estate, described as “agricultural pasture land”, was bought by the Welsh Government during the current financial year which ends on March 31.
Lee Waters, the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, says the site is one of three being created across Wales as forestry memorials to those who lost their lives because of the pandemic.
Another is on the Erddig Estate near Wrexham, which is owned by the National Trust.
The Welsh Government used the second anniversary of the first national lockdown yesterday to announce Wales’s third commemorative woodland will be at Cwmfelinfach in Caerphilly. The site is owned by Caerphilly Council.
The Welsh Government says the memorial woodlands will be a symbol of Wales’s resilience during the pandemic, and one of regeneration and renewal as the new woodlands grow.
Mr Waters has defended the decision to use the Brownhill Estate on the basis that it is near a train station.
However, a Welsh Government briefing note states: “The site is situated close to the A40 in Carmarthenshire between the villages of Manordeilo and Llanwrda. The nearest train station is Llangadog, 1.5 miles away.”
Llangadog is on the Heart of Wales line which runs from Llanelli to Shrewsbury. Currently it has four trains a day from Monday to Saturday and two on Sundays.
Hefin Jones, a beef farmer and vicechair of NFU Cymru Carmarthenshire, said: “I am very much in favour of a forestry memorial to those who passed away because of Covid, but I question whether Brownhill is the right location. It’s very difficult to access the site via public transport and most people visiting it will choose to drive. This doesn’t seem to be in line with the Welsh Government’s drive to cut carbon emissions.
“I believe they should think again. It would make more sense to have a memorial in a place which is close to large centres of population and easily accessible by public transport.”
Mr Jones said that for him it also made little sense to plant trees on good agricultural land.
“We shouldn’t be giving up land where food can be grown for other purposes,” he said. “With all the uncertainty in the world it makes sense for us to keep hold of the farming land we’ve got.”
Like others in the farming industry, Mr Jones is also concerned that farming land is being planted with trees by investment companies from outside Wales that are getting grants from the Welsh Government.
In a recent article for Farmers Guardian, he wrote about “faceless corporations outside of Wales” that were being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds in Welsh Government grant funding for afforestation.
He wrote: “How does this type of carbon offsetting benefit the local economy or community when such large sums of money flow out of the country?
“It simply turns Wales into a carbon dump.
“The aspiration to achieve this rural planning target sees an indiscriminate campaign to plant trees on any type of land it seems.
“It’s not only the more difficult, less productive land being turned into woodland. Some of the best, most productive land in Wales is being purchased for afforestation.”
We asked the Welsh Government whether it had carried out a carbon footprint assessment of siting a carbon memorial on the Brownhill Estate.
Mr Waters said: “The site at Brownhill Estate, Llangadog, is one of three planned commemorative woodlands in Wales to be created in memory of all those who have died during the pandemic. All three locations have been chosen because of their proximity to transport links, including train stations, and are spread out so people can access the woodland nearest their home.
“As well as being a symbol of commemoration and reflection, they also signify regeneration following the pandemic. The trees will absorb carbon as they grow, helping us to tackle the climate emergency and reach our goal to plant 43,000 hectares of new woodland by 2030. We want farmers to be central to these efforts.
“Natural Resources Wales will continue to work with the local community and families over the coming months as they plan the commemorative woodland.”