Applying the Ecosystems Services concept
Applying the Ecosystem Services concept to the Cambrian Mountains Initiative
The WAG and its sponsored bodies are leading the Ecosystems component (working Group Chair -John Lloyd Jones) of the Cambrian Mountains Initiative working with senior staff from various WAG departments including Cadw, Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust to develop a strategic land management project plan. The work on Ecosystem Services developed in the Cambrian Mountains will also link closely with the Tourism and Food Marketing Groups.
The ecosystem goods and services concept supports decision-making for sustainable outcomes. The aim is to provide data which allows proposed projects put forward by the various workstreams to be thoroughly analysed and their implications identified. This provides the basis on which informed decisions can be made.
The Welsh Assembly Government and its Agencies’ work on ecosystems focuses on protecting soils, water, biodiversity and heritage, which in addition to their intrinsic value, support and enrich human life. The first step in developing action in any area is to identify the environmental priorities, and also the potential synergies and trade-offs with other priorities, such as food production.
As part of its work on ecosystems, the Welsh Assembly Government is reviewing the land management schemes included in Axis 2 of the Rural Development Plan, to align them more closely to its environmental policy objectives such as those relating to climate change. Following a review of programmes under Axis 2 of the Rural Development Plan with the aim to agree revised land management schemes with the European Commission, Rural Affairs Minister Elin Jones has announced a shift in approach to land management schemes in Wales. From 2012, the five existing agri-environment schemes (Tir Gofal, Tir Cynnal, Tir Mynydd, Organic Farming Scheme and the Better Woodlands for Wales scheme) will be replaced by one scheme, Glastir, which is better positioned to meet current and future environmental challenges such as climate change, carbon capture, water management and bio-diversity.
The role the Cambrians play as the head of many important rivers, and as an area rich in peat, mean that they are a very suitable test-bed for the Assembly Government’s work with partners and local communities on ecosystems, and in particular the potential to be used as a desktop area for early piloting and implementation of new measures under the 1Axis 2 Review. There are two specific items of work that are under development by the Ecosystem Services Group which will involve the 23 farm businesses that are participating in the Cambrian Mountains Lamb Producer Group.
1 Axis 2 -The key objective of the review is to maximise the effectiveness of spending under axis 2 in meeting the Assembly Government’s wider environmental objectives, particularly those arising from the Wales Environment Strategy – including those relating to the climate change agenda, action to halt the loss of biodiversity and maintain designated sites in favourable condition, and the development of landscape-scale and ecosystems approaches; from Farming for the Future and the Farming 2020 vision – relating to the future sustainability of farming and the shift from direct subsidy to payment for public goods; and from Woodlands for Wales – relating to the sustainable management of woodlands.