£6m and the State of Welsh Nature

The State of Nature Report, published May 2103, was a damning indictment of human impact on the natural world. Iolo’s impassioned speech cut through the bullshit and, in case you missed it first time around, here it is again:

The Welsh Government response is the creation of a £6m Fund for Nature to be spent by March 2015. Ideas are needed by 16^th December, and presumably the best ideas will be able to bid for various grant schemes to be offered in early 2014. Government guidelines are: ‘Ideas need to be practical action for managing land and water that will benefit nature, create opportunities for new jobs and income and support communities.’

I submitted some ideas prepared with colleagues and went along to a workshop at Llandudno Junction today. The purpose was to share ideas and seek synergies but I left with the feeling that everyone was in broadcast mode, arguing their particular niche. How will the facilitators make sense of the flipcharts and the multi-coloured post-it notes bearing messages such as ‘carbon’ and ‘flood alleviation’?  

I hope there is someone able to cut through the self interest. Speaking of which, and on behalf of Natur Cymru, I submitted an idea titled: ‘Actions speak louder than words but words make actions go further.’