£438 million needs to be spent annually to preserve nature in Wales, exclusive report reveals

• ITV Cymru Wales' Hannah Thomas reports.

£438 million needs to be spent every single year to halt the nature emergency in Wales.

A report, shared exclusively with ITV Cymru Wales, shows a substantial increase in the amount of funding needed as nature and species struggles to survive in our constantly evolving climate.

One in six species are now seen as at threat of extinction in Wales and since 1994, there has been a 20% decrease in wildlife in the country.

Last year - it was just £158 million. This year it's nearly three times higher.

This is partly due to inflations and new estimates but also as a result of the worsening picture. The report, by Wales Environment Link, has revealed ten key areas that need action to help recover nature.

The suggested actions include:

• Access and public participation - Invest in new urban green spaces and trees.

• Farmland - Enforce pollution regulations and support for a nature friendly food system.

• Coasts - Invest in the creation of coastal habitats and reduce plastic litter.

• Seas - Invest in sustainable fisheries and offshore Marine Conservation Zones.

• Peat - Invest in a peatland restoration programme.

• Grasslands - Invest in pest management and grassland restoration.

• Protected sites - Invest in additional staff for Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

• Rivers and wetlands - Remove barriers to migration in rivers.

• Woodland and trees - Map and protect ancient trees and restore woodland.

• Species - Increase biosecurity measures to combat invasive, non-native species.

Karen Whitfield, Joint Director of Wales Environment Link, said: "The key problems for nature loss at the moment are things like loss of habitat, pollution and the impact of climate change.

"The report looks at existing government spending and also identifies areas where we feel that there is a gap in funding compared to what we would need to see these actions progress properly.

"We really feel that investment [in nature] needs to be prioritised because we're not seeing the scale and pace of change that we need in terms of restoring nature."

The State of Nature report in 2023 concluded that Wales is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world with dwindling species, including the Atlantic salmon and curlew.

Ms Whitfield said that this decline is due to "loss of habitat, pollution, invasive species, unsustainable harvesting of fish for example in our oceans and climate change."

She continued: "There are multiple causes for this and that's why there are multiple things that we need to address and that's why prioritisation of this extra spend is so important right now."

The Welsh Government has already committed to achieving a Nature Positive Wales – halting and reversing nature loss by 2030 and driving recovery in line with the newly agreed Global Biodiversity Framework.

Huw Irranca-Davies, Deputy First Minister of Wales and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, said: "Across a range of areas we've done a deep dive into biodiversity - that has brought forward some recommendations that we've already been working on over the last few years.

"In this Senedd term we have the primary piece of legislation coming forward which will deal with environmental governance and biodiversity targets on a statutory basis which will take us a step forward as well.

"So we haven't been quiet at all, we've been working very hard."

Mr Irranca-Davies said he "welcomes the report", explaining that "there's never going to be enough taxpayer money to deal with the quantum of funds we need going into environmental restoration and the wider environmental eco services.

"So we do need to think creatively and the engagement that we're having currently with environmental organisations but also those who would be interested in community interventions within this area."

He added: "I recognise what they've identified which is that we're never going to fill that gap simply through taxpayer funding, simply through Welsh Government, local authority funding with the best will in the world.

"What we need to do is be very creative together and try and fill that gap in funding because we need to do it if we're going to deal with the nature emergency, but also the climate change emergency as well."

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…