Friends of the Earth Cymru welcomes countryside bill

Friends of the Earth Cymru is celebrating following today's publication of the Countryside and Rights of Way Bill. FOE has long been campaigning for tough new wildlife laws, and the Bill contains many of the measures that are desperately needed to stop wildlife destruction.

Over 300 of our best wildlife sites - Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) - are currently being lost or damaged every single year in Britain. In Wales, the Countryside Council for Wales reports that there were cases of damage on 165 SSSIs in 1997-8. The Government's own data suggests that around 45% of SSSIs are suffering from neglect and are in an 'unfavourable' condition. But the new Bill will allow the Government's conservation agencies (English Nature and The Countryside Council for Wales) to refuse permission for activities which threaten the sites. It will also allow them to ensure that work is undertaken to combat neglect.

Public bodies will be under a statutory duty to further the conservation and enhancement of SSSIs. This will put an end to situations such as the complete destruction in 1998 of the Gwaun Cwm Cownwy SSSI in Montgomeryshire.

The Bill will also provide ordinary people with greater access to the countryside. Friends of the Earth also welcomes this aspect of the Bill because the more people experience wildlife and countryside, the more it is valued.

Gordon James of Friends of the Earth Cymru said:

"This new Bill is a key step towards halting the century long decline of this country's wildlife. It comes not a moment too soon for the precious animals and plants that would soon have been lost from these islands."

We warmly welcome this bill and look forward to working with the Welsh Assembly to ensure that it is fully implemented in Wales."