(Title Image: Natural Resources Wales/Crown Copyright)
First sites announced for “National Forest” project
Fourteen sites within the Welsh Government estate have been selected as the starting point for a project to create a “National Forest” for Wales. £17million has been made available this year for new woodland creation across several schemes.
The first tranche of sites will see improvements to existing woodland as well as extensions.
Environment, Energy & Rural Affairs Minister, Lesley Griffiths (Lab, Wrexham) said: “(The sites) are among the very best woodland in Wales, and will serve as exemplars for the benefits we would expect from other sites and new woodlands before they could become part of the National Forest.”
The project had the support of conservationist and naturalist, Iolo Williams, who said: “Through the National Forest we can restore, enhance and create woodlands and habitats in a connected way across the length and breadth of Wales, with the right species of tree planted in the right place.”
Call for NHS gambling clinic
There have been calls from medical experts and academics for the Welsh Government to establish a gambling addiction clinic in Wales.
Prof. Simon Dymond from Swansea University told BBC Wales that there were growing concerns that the under-24s were developing gambling problems during pandemic lockdowns.
The call had support from the Chair of the Senedd’s cross-party group on gambling, Mick Antoniw MS (Lab, Pontypridd), who said: “There’s only one outcome of the increase in gambling and that’s an increase in gambling addiction and the social and economic problems and ruined lives that follow.”
Economy Minister’s business support claim disputed
The UK Government has taken exception to a claim by the Economy & Transport Minister, Ken Skates (Lab, Clwyd South), that the Development Bank of Wales has made as many emergency business loans available during the pandemic as have been made available from the UK Government through high street banks.
The UK Treasury said: “As our latest published statistics show, more than 50,000 businesses in Wales have benefitted from more than £1.6billionn in UK government-backed loans to get through the crisis.”
Pro-independence group sees membership surge
The pro-independence pressure group, Yes Cymru, has experienced a membership surge over the past week, with the number of members currently standing at least 13,500. This would make Yes Cymru the second-largest political movement in Wales after the Labour Party (which is estimated to have up to 25,000 members in Wales).
The sudden membership surge was said to be down, at least partially, to dissatisfaction with the UK Government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a popular counter-reaction to highly negative stories about Wales from UK political commentators published during the two-week “firebreak” lockdown.
