Dyfodol i’r Iaith has written to the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters, regarding the need to plant woodland for carbon capture within the context of protecting rural communities that support Welsh as a community language.

The organisation was pleased to learn the Welsh Government accepts the principle that it is local farmers, rather than outside companies, who should be central to responding to the challenge of carbon capture through increasing the plantation of trees.

Dyfodol believes, however, that specific and robust commitments are needed in relation to this critical challenge, and calls upon the Government to:

• Fund farmers who live on the land where the woodlands are to be planted and prohibit large companies from benefiting from such a serious situation to the detriment of local communities.
• In accordance with the recommendations of Professor Gareth Wyn Jones’s Land Use Climate Change Report, presented to the Welsh Assembly Government in March 2010, that planting mainly takes place on low-fertility acid upland soils, including bracken dominated slopes.

Heini Gruffudd, the organisation’s Chair said:

“This is clearly a matter that emphasises the need for Government to tackle two elements of sustainability that are central to its vision: ensuring a future for the planet and those communities in rural Wales who live on it.”