Producing more food while impacting less on the environment presents the biggest challenge in establishing an efficient and effective use of our ecosystems and services, NFU Cymru has said following today’s publication of the National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) report.
The NEA, the first UK-wide assessment of ecosystem services and the state of the natural environment since 1945, also sets out a number of future scenarios and looks at possible policies and practices that might have to be put in place to protect ecosystems in the future.
NFU Cymru President Ed Bailey said, ’By 2050 the global population will be approaching nine billion and, with the added challenge of climate change, food shortages are likely. Welsh agriculture is likely to be well-positioned to play a key role in meeting food needs in this country but also contributing to global food demands. We already import a large amount of our food and it would be foolish to become more dependent.
’There will be a need for us to produce more food but with over three-quarters of the Welsh land area in agricultural management we recognise that farmers and growers carry a unique responsibility for managing the countryside. We are keen to demonstrate that food production and managing additional ecosystem services that the natural environment provides, such as biodiversity, can go hand in hand.’
The suggestion within today’s report that one-fifth of Welsh farmland could be converted to woodland has been described by Ed Bailey as ’short-sighted’. Mr Bailey said, ’The Welsh Government recognises that food security is a real issue and the future of both the food and tourism industries, crucial to the economy of Wales, will be compromised if we take a significant area of farmland out of production.
’The production of food in Wales can and already does go hand in hand with tourism and access to the countryside. Millions of people, whether on day trips or longer, come to Wales each year. The majority of these visits are to marvel at and visit the landscape and countryside created over the centuries by farmers producing food.
’We need to debate how we can produce more food in Wales, but impact less on the natural environment. The Welsh Government needs to ensure we have a regulatory and planning policy framework that recognises the importance and value of food production alongside protecting the environment.’