Testun llawn:
Acccording to the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 enhanced biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems is a duty, which "requires that in the exercise of their functions, public authorities in Wales must seek to maintain and enhance biodiversity by ensuring development does not cause any significant loss of habitats or populations of species and must provide a net benefit for biodiversity and improved ecosystem resilience." Removing the Green Wedge designation from the KS1 site goes directly against this duty. If biodiversity and ecosystem resilience within the site and the wider landsape are to be prioritised then the existing wild inhabitants of the site must be taken into account.
The loss of green space that housing and hardcore will replace is unforgivable. There will be less uncovered land to drain the increasing heavy rainfall that climate change is bringing. An impact on biodiversity will also be felt. Loss of habitat is a main reason for the drastic decline in wildlife species countrywide. In order to breed successfully they need connecting spaces through different kinds of green landscapes to widen the gene pool. Animals trapped in isolated habitats weaken and die out. This is widely documented. Wales' most prominent advocate for wildlife, Iolo Williams, has stated (in Tyr Natur) that " Cymru is one of the most nature depleted countries on the planet and despite conservation efforts, our wildlife is still in decline." Housing needs may be an urgent requirement, but so is biodiversity, the loss of which which will so negatively affect the lives of our children and grandchildren.
Bats, field mice, otters, owls, raptors, wood pigeons and skylarks are known to inhabit these fields. Swallows skim them in summer for the plethora of insects. Wrens and other small birds nest in the scrub and hedges surrounding them. From my garden I hear the songs of robins, wood pigeons, blackbirds, dunnocks, tits and goldfinches. Skylarks nest in them all through spring and summer, their songs lifting up into the air above us as they rise. These are endangered red-listed birds. THIS IS BIODIVERSITY. We should be avid in our protection of what we still have. These Green Wedge fields act as a wildlife corridor between the country park and the further landscape of our beautiful Vale. Take it away and it is gone for good. Yet more numbers of species will be lost. Wildlife is not just a luxury. It is the web that supports the health and wellbeing of all creatures on this earth, ourselves included.
As a gardener this aspect is close to my heart. On the edge of these fields I garden organically with care for biodiversity.
