A week ago, the Welsh Assembly Government’s Cabinet decided to accept the proposal from Ministers Jane Davidson (Environment, Housing and Sustainability) and Elin Jones (Rural Affairs) that a review should be undertaken of the bodies involved in delivering environmental management in Wales. This review will look at the potential for both mergers and transfers of functions.
With the development of the Natural Environment Framework (NEF) – to be launched in consultation format in mid-September – and growing devolution, not to mention the looming public sector budget cuts, a review that many of us for some time have seen as inevitable has suddenly been catapulted to centre stage. Wales is a small country and suffers, in my view, from having its public services organised on the basis of a mythical and much larger country, to which we were once more closely aligned, that I call ‘Englandandwales’. But things could, and arguably should, be so much simpler in a country of only 3 million people – and we’ll find out over the next few months how true this is for the environment.
The assembly review - a new management model for our natural environment?
The important point is that we are having a review with no preconceived conclusions – and our decisions in Wales will be taken on the basis of the evidence.
So, what is the outcome that we’re trying to achieve through this review? For me, it’s a natural environment that’s managed for the long-term well-being of the people of Wales. But what does this vague term ‘well-being’ mean? It must surely mean that the benefits that mankind derives from nature are protected through our everyday decisions and actions. And to act decisively and appropriately requires a deep knowledge of the way the natural world works and how it reacts to change.
We shouldn’t, for a moment, suppose that the general public recognises that benefits from nature contribute largely to our well-being. They’re mostly taken for granted. We’ll need to actively promote much more widespread understanding of nature as our life support system if we’re to get society to take the right decisions to protect our future. These benefits come from functioning ecosystems – from microbes, plants, animals and their physical and chemical environments. Ecosystems will have to be the basis of our future management……and this is what we’ve been working towards in CCW for some time.
So, the next few months will be unsettling for our staff – and for those in the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission; but they would have been anyway, with the impending budget cuts. And if, through a thorough review process, we arrive at a management model which better protects our natural environment for the long term, then isn’t this what we’ve all been working for?
See also
Natural Environment Framework
The Welsh Assembly Goverment (WAG) are developing the Natural Environment Framework (NEF). This will have a stronger focus on sustainable land and marine management in Wales and it will adopt an ecosystems approach. This second published narrative explains issues and challenges, and invites stakeholders and partners to engage on the implementation and delivery of the NEF.
See also
Environmental Delivery Options – Minister’s announcement (WAG)
Since January the Assembly Government has been working with stakeholders to develop a new Natural Environment Framework that will set out how we will enable Wales’ land and water to deliver long-term well-being reflecting our guiding principle of sustainable development.
Important
Statement to media and partner organisations
CCW response to Environment Minister’s announcement on finding best value for managing Wales’ natural environment.
The greatest challenge in this next stage of CCW’s journey will perhaps be to swap our comfortable conservationist / ecologist / environmentalist hats and pick up, for a few months at least, the less familiar but essential thought discipline of designers.
Good designers start with a clear understanding of ‘function’ before they get into the detail of ‘form’ or ‘shape’. Thinking about the function that we’re working towards, we need to take the ecological, economic and social context into account and ask ourselves some smart questions. A good inquiry to start with might be “if we were really setting out on a journey in which Wales was to become a leading example of how to engage business, community and government in creating a net positive impact as a result of their operations and policies – what outcomes, engagement, education, research and communication would be driving activity on a daily basis.
How organisations across Wales react to the dramatic reductions in funding and demand for more results that will be with us for decades to come starts best with personal reflection and a choice about the words and thoughts that will dictate what happens next. Positive or negative, our actions will shape the future. Good though CCW is, this could be the best opportunity we’ve ever had.
Hmmm, interesting viewpoints although lets not all be tempted into wearing any hat just because its fashionable.
The basic aim of CCW must be to defend our wildlife and its environment for the health and wellbieng of future generations . That is the job of a conservation organisation and its pretty simple but very difficult.
There are the hard hats of those who see our wildlife and ecosystems as exploitable for the benefit of their shareholders. In the long run leaving nothing but pollution and toxic waste which costs millions to deal with long after the hard hats have moved on to some newer greener valley.
Refineries are pulling out of Milford Haven because they know they can get away with less stringent safety and environmental regulation in the far east. It is a tragedy for their employees but would those employees here want to work under the same conditions as their Chinese or Indian counterparts, many of whom have no hard hats?
Right now all eyes are focused on the most powerful nation on earth as it (and all of us) pay the price of their soft environmental policies that did not discourage BP’s accountants from ignoring the risk of devastating the ecology of a significant part of their ocean and coastline. There are thousands of Americans sitting on death row who have committed less calculated crimes. And yet the CE of BP has just retired with a huge pension that will allow him and his family to live in some green and pleasant place for the rest of their lives. I wonder if he will understand the meaning of wellbeing in his retirement.
There are the political hats which change colour and shape depending on whatever lobby is the flavour of the season . There is an increasing lobby by the industrialists for us to drop or ignore laws that restrict the operations of business but where are they all going to live when everywhere is devastated?
My hat is a bit old and battered but it contributes to my wellbeing. It stops my head from getting too cold or too hot and keeps the sun out of my eyes allowing me to think and see more clearly. People are always nagging at me to change it but it does the job. I dont think I want to throw it away.
Old and battered and doing its job, is bit like our coast, sea and countryside here in Wales. Unlike my hat it is exremely valuable and CCW has to make sure it does not get thrown away!
Perhaps the biggest challenge CCW has is to communicate and tell it like it is, so anyone wearing any hat knows that their wellbieng depends on our environment!