Written question WQ82951
- Asked by
- Janet Finch-SaundersConservative
- To be answered by
- Minister for Climate Change
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 7 days
Question
What steps will the Welsh Government take to ensure that Wales makes the most of the opportunity identified in the CCRA3 report for expansion of existing established species such as Douglas fir and sycamore, and for fast growing species that are selected for bioenergy sources?
Answer
Answered by Minister for Climate Change
Welsh Government remains committed to a “right tree in the right place” approach to woodland creation. Douglas fir and sycamore are already common species used in forestry across Wales. The Welsh Government is collaborating with Defra and Scottish Forestry to fund Short Rotation Forestry experiments led by Forest Research. These experiments have been running for 6 years and look at 15 different alternative species such as poplar, eucalyptus, spruce, fir and sycamore and their ability to produce energy crops for future demand. There are three experiment sites in Wales, Talybont-on-Usk, Corris and Radnor.
Welsh Government are also a partner organisation in an EU collaborative project called BioWill. This project is aimed at using willow grown on short rotations which can be turned into bio-refined materials that could replace plastics in the future. Another aspect of the BioWill project is looking at using anaerobic digestion systems to produce energy as well as the other benefits of trees such as their impact on buffering pollution into watercourses.