MEMBERS of Bridgend County Borough Council have backed a motion to support the nature emergency declared by the Welsh Government in 2021.
The motion was brought forward by independent councillor Ian Williams of Oldcastle at a full council meeting held in April, 2025, where it was backed by all members in attendance.
Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Williams discussed the Welsh Government’s decision to declare a nature emergency in 2021, with figures showing that 17% of 3,902 species studied in Wales were at risk of extinction, with many others in decline.
He said: “In 2015, the Welsh Government’s Nature Recovery Action Plan (NRAP) recognised Wales was far from reaching national and international biodiversity goals. Data now shows that Welsh wildlife decreased on average by 20% between 1994 and 2023 and around 1 in 6 Welsh species were at risk of extinction in 2023.
“The Environment (Wales) Act 2016 aims to reverse the decline in biodiversity. Among other things, it places an enhanced biodiversity and resilience of ecosystems duty on public authorities. The Senedd has since declared a nature emergency and the Welsh Government has said it will embed its response to the climate and nature emergency in everything it does.
“This motion moves that this council resolves to sign up to the nature emergency declared by Welsh Government on 30 June 2021 and considers the impact of all decisions made by this authority on the wildlife, nature and biodiversity within our borough”.
Labour councillor Paul Davies, who is the cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said he also supported the motion, noting a number of steps the council had taken towards the nature emergency since 2018.
These included securing over £2 million of funding to go towards the planting of trees and bio-diversity projects across the borough, as well as the designation of Bedford Park as the area’s fifth nature reserve along with the expansion of Frog Pond Wood.
The motion was later passed with an amendment from Councillor Martin Hughes, who added that the authority should recognise the limits to current approaches to environmental decline, and commit to working pro-actively towards new targets expected to address the ongoing nature emergency.
