Natural Resources Policy

Section 2 Natural resources In this Part, “natural resources” includes (but is not limited to)— (a) animals, plants and other organisms; (b) air, water and soil; (c) minerals; (d) geological features and processes; (e) physiographical features; (f) climatic features and processes.

Section 3 Sustainable management of natural resources (1) In this Part, “sustainable management of natural resources” means— (a) using natural resources in a way and at a rate that promotes achievement of the objective in subsection (2), (b) taking other action that promotes achievement of that objective, and (c) not taking action that hinders achievement of that objective. (2) The objective is to maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems and the benefits they provide and, in so doing— (a) meet the needs of present generations of people without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and (b) contribute to the achievement of the well-being goals in section 4 of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015

Section 4 Principles of sustainable management of natural resources In this Part, the “principles of sustainable management of natural resources” are— (a) manage adaptively, by planning, monitoring, reviewing and, where appropriate, changing action; (b) consider the appropriate spatial scale for action; (c) promote and engage in collaboration and co-operation; (d) make appropriate arrangements for public participation in decision-making; (e) take account of all relevant evidence and gather evidence in respect of uncertainties; (f) take account of the benefits and intrinsic value of natural resources and ecosystems; (g) take account of the short, medium and long term consequences of actions; (h) take action to prevent significant damage to ecosystems; (i) take account of the resilience of ecosystems, in particular the following aspects— (i) diversity between and within ecosystems; (ii) the connections between and within ecosystems; 31 (iii) the scale of ecosystems; (iv) the condition of ecosystems (including their structure and functioning); (v) the adaptability of ecosystems.

Section 8 Duty to prepare and publish state of natural resources report (1) NRW must prepare and publish reports in accordance with this section containing its assessment of the state of natural resources in relation to Wales. (2) Each report must, among other things, set out— (a) NRW’s assessment of the extent to which sustainable management of natural resources is being achieved; (b) NRW’s assessment of biodiversity (including the living organisms and types of habitat included in any list published under section 7); (c) what NRW considers to be the main trends and factors that are affecting, and are likely to affect, the state of natural resources; (d) any aspects of the state of natural resources about which NRW considers that it does not have sufficient information to make an assessment. (3) NRW must publish its first report before the end of four months starting with the day this section comes into force. (4) Subsequently, NRW must publish a report before the end of the calendar year preceding a year in which an ordinary general election is due to be held. (5) NRW must publish a draft of each report required by subsection (4) before the end of the calendar year preceding the year in which the report must be published. (6) In this section, “ordinary general election” means the poll held at an ordinary general election under section 3 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32).

Section 9 Duty to prepare, publish and implement national natural resources policy (1) The Welsh Ministers must prepare and publish a document setting out their general and specific policies for contributing to achieving sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales (the “national natural resources policy”). (2) The national natural resources policy must set out what the Welsh Ministers consider to be the key priorities, risks and opportunities for sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales, including what they consider should be done in relation to climate change and biodiversity. (3) The Welsh Ministers may include anything in the national natural resources policy which they consider relevant to achieving sustainable management of natural resources in relation to Wales. (4) The Welsh Ministers must— (a) take all reasonable steps to implement the national natural resources policy, and (b) encourage others to take such steps. 32 (5) The Welsh Ministers must publish the first national natural resources policy before the end of 10 months starting with the day this section comes into force. (6) The Welsh Ministers— (a) must review the national natural resources policy after each general election, and (b) may review the policy at any other time. (7) The Welsh Ministers may at any time revise the national natural resources policy and must publish the national natural resources policy as revised. (8) In exercising their functions under this section, the Welsh Ministers must apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources. (9) In preparing or revising the national natural resources policy, the Welsh Ministers must have regard to the most recent report under section 8 on the state of natural resources in relation to Wales. (10) When the Welsh Ministers publish the national natural resources policy (or a revised policy), they must also publish a report summarising— (a) any consultation that was carried out in preparing the policy, and (b) any representations that were received as a result of the consultation. (11) In subsection (6), “general election” means a poll held at an ordinary general election under section 3 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32) or an extraordinary general election under section 5 of that Act.

Section 11 Area statements (1) NRW must prepare and publish statements (“area statements”) for the areas of Wales that it considers appropriate for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the national natural resources policy. (2) NRW may use the area statements for any other purpose in the exercise of its functions. (3) Each area statement must— (a) explain why a statement has been prepared for the area, by reference to— (i) the natural resources in the area, (ii) the benefits which the natural resources provide, and (iii) the priorities, risks and opportunities for the sustainable management of natural resources which need to be addressed; (b) explain how the principles of sustainable management of natural resources have been applied in preparing the statement; (c) state how NRW proposes to address the priorities, risks and opportunities, and how it proposes to apply the principles of sustainable management of natural resources in doing so; (d) specify the public bodies which NRW considers may assist in addressing the priorities, risks and opportunities. (4) NRW must ensure that every part of Wales is included in at least one of the areas for which it prepares an area statement. (5) NRW must (a) take all reasonable steps to implement an area statement, and (b) encourage others to take such steps. (6) NRW must keep area statements under review and it may revise them at any time. (7) Before publishing an area statement, NRW must consider whether— 33 (a) another plan, strategy or similar document should be incorporated into the area statement, or (b) the area statement should be incorporated into another plan, strategy or similar document. 34 The Interface with the Well-being of Future Generations Act and the Planning (Wales) Act The Environment (Wales) Act received Royal Assent in March 2016, having been developed following consultations in 2010 (A Living Wales), 2012 (Green Paper) and the Environment Bill White Paper (Towards the Sustainable Management of Wales’ Natural Resources) in 2014. Developed in parallel with the Well-being of Future Generations Act, it complements and links with that Act; the sustainable management of natural resources being a fundamental part of sustainable development. The Act’s provisions are also closely linked to the Planning (Wales) Act as illustrated in the following diagram. Well-being of Future Generations Act Places seven well-being goals into law, and requiring public bodies to apply the sustainable development principle in five key ways . Environment (Wales) Act Puts in place a modern statutory process to plan and manage our natural resources in a joined and sustainable way Planning (Wales) Act Improves the existing Planning process to ensure the right development is located in the right place 35 Annex B: Nature Based Climate Action Memorandum of Understanding As founding signatories to the international Nature Based Climate Action Memorandum of Understanding, the Welsh Government has committed to:  promote investments in enhancing ecosystem resilience as part of the response to the need for mitigation and adaptation;  look to natural or “green” infrastructure solutions to reduce climate risk and provide wider ecosystem services whilst safeguarding biological diversity and ecosystem health;  the use of tools and assessments that promote the understanding of the wider value of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems in addressing climate change and providing wider multiple benefits;  the development of tools to measure the benefits of integrated approaches to climate change (including ecosystem services, safeguarding biological diversity, carbon sequestration, and wider co‐ benefits that support increased resilience);  the need for enhanced technical and scientific cooperation and measurement in relation to implementation; and,  foster closer links between ecosystem management, climate-change adaptation and sustainable development. 36