Performance report 2023/24

This information is part of our Annual report and accounts 2023/24.

Over the following pages our Chief Executive, Clare Pillman, offers her perspective on our performance over the year and we outline the purpose of our organisation, our new vision, mission, values, the key risks and issues we face, as well as explaining how we have managed delivery of our objectives this year.

Chief Executive’s statement

Organisations across the public sector are increasingly challenged with meeting intensifying service demands whilst coping with funding and budget constraints, and we are no exception to this. We have faced significant additional pressures this year, particularly in relation to managing increased costs as well as timber income volatility. We have worked hard to alleviate these pressures on our budget, such as though an external recruitment freeze and the reduction of non-staff budgets, but serious challenges remain.

We have undertaken a thorough review of all of our activities to make the further budget reductions required to set us on a sustainable pathway for the next financial year and thereafter. We are committed to maximising efficiencies to protect frontline services, but it is clear that we will need to scale back and/or stop some services. We are considering all our options, but unfortunately, there will be some difficult decisions to be made which will inevitably impact services that the public enjoy and expect. Nevertheless, we recognise that we will set a budget of over £270m next financial year, which represents a significant investment to address the nature, climate and pollution emergencies. Our new corporate plan is our north star in delivering the change we want to see for both nature and people to 2030 and beyond.

We have committed to strengthening the system for monitoring delivery against our well-being objectives so that we can be held to account by Ministers and the people of Wales. We have strengthened our performance management framework against the delivery of the Plan, including developing of ambitious impact statements to accompany the strategic indicators and supporting narratives. These ambitious impact statements are outward facing and clearly recognise we cannot achieve them alone.

Agreed this year, our accommodation strategy sets out the vision for our portfolio over the next decade, aiming to ensure that we will meet the business needs of a Category 1 responder whilst transitioning towards a net zero carbon future. Working with key public sector partners to explore synergies, we are focusing on shared services on our built estate, whilst improving staff wellbeing. The move of our central Cardiff office to a dedicated floor of the Welsh Government building in Cathays Park is part of a plan which aims to make significant emissions and efficiency savings for both us and the wider public sector, realising savings of between £3 and £4 million whilst reducing our emissions from heating and lighting by around 50% over the next ten years.

Nature

Reflecting the recommendations of our national conversation, Natur a Ni, we are proud of our focus on nature’s recovery in our corporate plan. We have warmly welcomed Welsh Government’s Biodiversity Deep Dive, which has concentrated energy and focus on how Wales will meet the 30:30 commitments from COP15. The Deep Dive is now reaching a crucial stage of reporting and we look forward to its recommendations when published later this year.

We are also proud to be continuing our work as host of Natur am Byth, Wales’ flagship Green Recovery project which unites nine environmental charities to deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme. With over £4m from the National Heritage Lottery Fund and welcome additional support from Welsh Government, the partnership gives much needed capacity into the natural heritage sector to save threatened species from extinction whilst reconnecting people to nature.

Climate

As climate impacts worsen, we need to understand the investment requirements so that we, as a society, can plan effectively to manage the impact. In February, we published a report which outlines the challenges of managing and funding climate change induced flood risk in Wales over the long term.

On the ground, work on the £4.1m flood risk management scheme in Ammanford was substantially completed this winter, while in Newport, Gwent, we are about to complete a £21m scheme which includes a combination of flood walls, gates and grass embankments. These are both substantial projects which together will reduce flood risk to over 2000 homes and important industrial areas, keeping businesses open and supporting the wider local economy.

Peatlands are some of our most important habitats, not only in terms of biodiversity but carbon sequestration. Now in its fifth year, the National Peatland Action Programme is a significant project which will help us to restore those peatlands which, in addition to the excellent work being delivered as part of the Nature and Climate Emergency programme, make such a huge contribution to reversing the decline in nature and addressing climate impacts.

Minimising pollution

Thanks to additional Welsh Government funding, this year we have appointed and trained around 20 officers to deliver the programme of compliance inspections of high-risk agricultural activities across Wales which began in earnest in November. We are focussing efforts on water quality more widely too, working closely with our counterparts in England on impacts to the River Wye, as well as working with the multi-agency Wales Better River Quality Taskforce, to ensure that our regulatory approaches, and collective efforts to minimise pollution are fit for the future.

Our relationships with our stakeholders have never been more important, and I am pleased to see the strength of the commitment across the organisation to positively nurturing our connections with key partners such as the farming bodies, our eNGOs, and the private sector across Wales.

But as we face increasingly tricky political and economic headwinds, the polarisation of public debate means that our collective energies are often diverted from what should be our one true goal – tackling the impact of the nature and climate emergencies. Now is not the time for point scoring or personal agendas, there is far too much at stake.

It is vital that we all remember that there is far more that unites us than divides us, so that nature and people can thrive together.

 

Ceri Davies, Executive Director for Evidence, Policy and Permitting and Temporary Acting Accounting Officer - 16 October 2024

 

Introducing NRW

We are a Welsh Government Sponsored Body. We work for the people of Wales, and it is our duty to pursue the sustainable management of natural resources (SMNR). These guiding principles underpin everything we do, including how we use our connections and bring people together to create and deliver shared outcomes for nature, climate and minimising pollution.

We share with many other organisations and individuals a love and passion for nature, detailed knowledge and expertise, as well as pride in supporting communities across Wales to take action.

Our vision

Nature and people thriving together.

Our mission

Focussing our passion and collective action towards:

  • nature’s recovery
  • resilience to climate change
  • minimising pollution

through the sustainable management of our natural resources.

Our values

We are proud to serve the people of Wales by being:

  • connected: we value our deep-rooted attachment to the land and water, nature and communities of Wales and build meaningful partnerships.
  • bold: we use our voice, take action to make a difference and lead by example.
  • caring: we listen to understand, care for each other and the communities we serve, and the environment we all depend on.
  • resourceful: we explore new ways of doing things, innovate to accelerate change and use our resources effectively.

These values are intrinsic to the successful delivery of our new vision and mission.

Our well-being objectives to 2030

By 2030 in Wales:

  • nature is recovering;
  • communities are resilient to climate change; and
  • pollution is minimised.

By focussing on the three well-being objectives together, we will protect and enhance the well-being of future generations.

NRW in numbers

Some figures relating to our activity of the last year, including some work with others:

Well-being objective 1: Nature is recovering

We are supporting nature’s recovery through:

Well-being objective 2: Communities are resilient to climate change

We are supporting communities’ resilience to climate change through:

Well-being objective 3: Pollution is minimised

We are supporting minimisation of pollution through:

Key risks summary

Risk is inherent in everything we do. The launch of our new Corporate Plan provided an opportunity to review key risks to the achievement of our well-being objectives. As outlined in our Accountability Report, our risks are identified, assessed, managed, reviewed, scrutinised and recorded.

Our strategic risks are those that could have the biggest and most profound impact on our achievement of our objectives. The six risks below are being actively managed by a Director level risk owner together with their risk manager(s). Each strategic risk has a risk appetite level set by the Board. A summary of our key risk areas, and how they have changed, is as follows:

Financial sustainability

We need to operate a balanced budget and ensure that our decision making positively affects our long-term financial sustainability to deliver the corporate plan. The external impacts of inflation, increasing costs and challenges within the supply chain increase the need for effective risk management, clear understanding of our risk appetite as well as the need to be agile and adaptable to the constant changes and economic volatility. 

Organisational resilience

We need to adequately prepare for any large-scale events that may cause significant business disruption e.g. a cyber security attack or a severe weather incident. The risk focuses on our need to ensure that we plan for, respond to and recover from any such events by undertaking horizon scanning, scenario planning and having effective business continuity and disaster recovery plans in place. 

Health and safety

As part of our operational delivery, we undertake inherently high-risk activities which include working with heavy machinery, working in water, working with chainsaws and often on difficult terrain. The risk focuses on ensuring that we have the infrastructure, training and competencies in place and that we manage those risks in line with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act to reduce both the likelihood and impact of the risk.

Values and ways of working

This risk focuses on the need to ensure that our ways of working and values align to deliver the corporate plan. Our operating model, governance structure, prioritisation methodologies, risk appetite, behaviours and practices that support our values need to underpin the delivery of our well-being objectives.

People

We need to utilise the skills, knowledge, expertise and experience of our staff in a way that optimises our delivery. The right people need to be deployed in the right places and as an organisation we need to ensure that there is flexibility in our structure and that prioritisation and resource / succession planning aligns with our corporate plan.

Political, legislative, economic environment

We need to read, anticipate, influence, plan for, adapt and respond to changing political, legislative and economic circumstances affecting our activities. The changing political landscape across Wales and the UK has created a need to ensure that we keep pace, strengthens relationships, utilises and builds networks locally, nationally and internationally to help facilitate transformative action. We need to take all opportunities to support the delivery of our well-being objectives by working effectively with our customers and stakeholders.

Finance summary

Our total income for the year was £134million and this included £34million of grants from WG towards a range of outcomes. In addition, the WG provided £141million Grant in Aid, of which £58million was allocated to flood and coastal risk management. WG also provided £3million in Working capital funding. In the financial statements, Grant in Aid and Working capital funding is recorded as ‘Funding from Welsh Government’ and treated as a contribution from a controlling authority and not a source of income.

In 2023/24, our expenditure increased from £272million to £300million. The change in expenditure is due to several reasons including an increase in staff costs mainly due to our pay award and the cost of living payment (our staff numbers actually decreased) and the delivery of our capital programmes. We reduced costs in a number of areas (bought in services) in order to afford the impact inflation and reduced timber income had on our budgets. Our total funding and spend distribution:

  • Funding by type:

    • Funding from Welsh Government (52% / £144m)
    • Charges (18% / £50m)
    • Commercial and other income (17% / £46m)
    • Other Welsh Government grants (12% / £34m)
    • European and other external (1% / £3m)

  • Expenditure by type:

    • Staff costs (44% / £131m)
    • Capital works expensed in year (16% / £48m)
    • Other expenditure (40% / £120m)

Managing our money

In 2023/24, our ‘core’ funding from Welsh Government remained at similar cash levels to the previous financial year. Also, Welsh Government continued to provide us with specific grant funding for programmes targeted at addressing the climate and nature emergency. We maintained our investment into externally funded programmes – investing more than £5million into programmes funded from Europe and the Heritage Lottery. Our timber income saw a decrease as the economic situation impacted on demand for timber and our renewable energy income levels also reduced from a high the year before. Charge income levels have increased moderately following the introduction of revised permitting and application fees. The budget was approved by the Board and scrutinised throughout the financial year by the Executive Team and the Board. 

Future look

We have published our new Corporate Plan to 2030 and Business Plan for 2024/25 which sets out our priorities for the financial year(s) ahead. We have set our plans based on expected resources, including Grant in Aid, charges and commercial income allocations and estimates. We have just received approval for our charges for 2024/25. Our commercial income can be less predictable as it’s very sensitive to exchange rate changes and Welsh Government have introduced a threshold to protect us from reductions in timber income. Welsh Government have confirmed our Grant in Aid allocation for 2024/25 at a similar cash level but our biggest challenge is affording the impact of pay and inflation levels and we are currently assessing how we will make changes to our services so they are affordable.

Non-current assets

The value of our non-current assets was £2,750million at 31 March 2024, a 0.7% (£19million) decrease compared to last financial year. The most significant component is the value of the forest estate and biological assets which accounts for £2,146million a 4% (£89m) decrease due to a combination of downward valuations of crops offset by increases in the underlying land valuation.

Payment of trade and other payables

We have a commitment to pay 95% of suppliers within 30 days and we aim to exceed this target wherever possible. Performance for this year was 96%.

Debtor performance

Our continued management of commercial debt has seen a slight decrease in commercial debt, with the average number of days for customers to pay at 0 days compared to 1 day in 2022/23, which is within our target of 2 days.

Our management of regulatory debt has seen a level of debt remaining the same at 6.5% in 2022/23 and 6.5% at the end of 2023/24, which was still below our target of 7%. We will aim to set a target that improves upon the 6.5% for 2024/25, this may be difficult in the current climate.

Our expected credit loss is £0.2million as at 31 March 2024.

Going Concern

The Statement of Financial Position at 31 March 2024 shows positive taxpayers’ equity of £2,683million. The future financing of our liabilities is to be met by the Welsh Government Grant in Aid and the application of future income. We have an approved Corporate Plan and Business Plan for 2024/25. Therefore, it is appropriate to adopt a going concern basis to prepare the Financial Statements.

Pensions

The pension liability/surplus is disclosed in the Financial Statements based on International Accounting Standard 19. The surplus has decreased for the Local Government Pension Scheme from £65million to £58million in 2023/24.

This is different from the basis used for funding calculations. The Environment Agency Pension Fund has estimated that it had enough assets to meet 153% of its expected future liabilities at 31 March 2024.

Auditors

Our accounts are audited by the Auditor General for Wales. The audit fee for 2023/24 is anticipated to be £213k.

Other reports

As an organisation, we regularly publish a number of reports, many of which can be accessed here including: this Annual report and accounts, an equality, diversity and inclusion annual report, and an environmental report. Strategies and plans for Wales are available here, including our new Corporate Plan, our Commercial strategy and Area Statements (which outline priorities, risks and opportunities for areas of Wales). Published research and evidence reports can be accessed here (including the State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR) for Wales 2020).

Performance summary

All measures in our Business Plan dashboard relate to our well-being objectives, as set out in our new Corporate Plan. The dashboard reflects a representative selection of measures aligned to the well-being objectives we are working towards, providing an overview of our work. Alongside these selected measures there is a vast amount of other work taking place. Under intensifying service demands, challenging funding and budget constraints, we have faced significant additional pressures this year. We have worked hard to alleviate these pressures on our budget, including though an external recruitment freeze and reduction of non-staff budgets. All this has had impacts across the organisation with some activity slowed, or not achieved, as a result.

As outlined in our Accountability Report, the reporting and scrutiny of measure reports in the dashboard takes place in open public session at our Board meetings four times a year, with further scrutiny of this reporting via Welsh Government.

At the end of the 2023/24 year, the dashboard included 22 measures, of which:

  • 15 were Green (achieved target or milestone)
  • 6 were Amber (close to target or milestone)
  • 1 was Red (missed target or milestone)

Comparing performance with the previous year (2022/23), at the end of 2023/24 we had five less measures amber or red, and four less green measures (and the 2023/24 dashboard reflected nine less measures overall). It should be noted that as the nature, form, detail and context of our dashboard measures can vary to some extent each year, the reported measure positions will not always be directly comparable.

Performance analysis

This part of the performance report aims to reflect some of what has been achieved this year, including examples reflecting particular highlights and significant areas of challenge.

By Well-being Objective, we outline:

  • year end (summary) position (To see our in-year reported positions on all these measures, please refer to our published Board papers) for each of our Business Plan dashboard measures
  • some of our planned priority activity for the coming year
  • a number of related delivery examples

Delivery relationships are also indicated with:

Well-being objective 1: Nature is recovering

More Equal, Healthier, Resilient, Prosperous, Globally Responsible, Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language, Cohesive Communities

What is needed to ensure nature’s recovery?

“This means taking urgent action to halt and reverse the decline in biodiversity, and to build the resilience of ecosystems so that nature can adapt to a changing climate and continue to provide the basis of all life – clean air, clean water, food and a stable climate. Wales needs to act now to avoid catastrophic ecosystem collapse.” - see Our Corporate Plan for more detail, on what our organisation is doing (including with others) to tackle this.

Our Corporate Plan outlines that we will take action to ensure nature’s recovery is secure by 2030 through: Protecting nature; Restoring nature; Ensuring nature is respected and valued in decision-making; Reconnecting nature, people and communities; Being an exemplar nature positive organisation; and Recovering nature in our communities. Each year, our Business Plan includes our priority commitments for the coming year. Our Business Plan for 2024/25 reflects our latest annual priority commitments, including: delivery of the Nature Networks Programme; designation of a new national park; and informing development of the Sustainable Farming Scheme. Looking back over the last year, by the end of 2023/24, we:

  • promoted a shared vision for the natural environment to 2050 (Natur a Ni / Nature and Us). Measure status: Green (see ‘Shared vision…’, overleaf)
  • completed priority actions on protected sites to improve the condition of features, with Nature Networks capital funding supporting the majority of those completed. Measure status: Green
  • progressed our water quality review, though a design contract delay means a new ‘sentinel’ monitoring network design will now be delivered during 2024/25 due to uncertainty over project funding and pressures on staff. Measure status: Amber
  • acted for declining species or those on the edge of extinction, including through Natur am Byth. Measure status: Green
  • continued to develop and implement a programme to examine a new National Park (in North East Wales). Measure status: Green
  • delivered on Wales Marine Protected Area (MPA) network management actions, including around Climate Change profiles. Measure status: Green
  • managed, and input to, programmes to address and restore habitat across Wales, including delivery for nature networks and LIFE programmes. Measure status: Green

We have included more detail around some of the above on the following pages.

Shared vision, and our plans for the future

The Nature and Us Vision for Wales was created by people in Wales and describes a future where nature and society thrive together, along with changes we need to make to achieve this. The Vision, and wider experience of the Nature and Us programme, provide valuable tools for enabling collaborative action towards nature’s recovery.

The Nature and Us Vision for Wales 2050 was created by a Citizens’ Assembly hosted by NRW in early 2023. The Vision was released during the Summer of 2023 and identifies six themes for action if nature and society are to thrive together. The Vision builds on the views of thousands of people who took part in the Nature and Us national conversation in 2022.

The Nature and Us conversation informed our Corporate Plan to 2030 ‘Nature and People Thriving Together’ (published in March 2023) and our three Well-being Objectives built upon Nature and Us findings. In December we published our response to the Vision in an open letter.

This year, a process evaluation of the Nature and Us programme is providing us with valuable insight into its strengths and weaknesses, and is recommending ways to embed our learning – improving our impact and effectiveness. The evaluation completes in April 2024, and we will be sharing its findings across our organisation and with partners.

The Nature and us Vision for Wales 2050 will continue to influence our work over the coming years, though the Vision is clearly not something our organisation can achieve alone. We will continue to build and strengthen partnerships across the Welsh public sector to accelerate the impact of this work, share collective knowledge and show leadership towards making the Vision a reality. To achieve the vision, we know action is needed now; by people, government and organisations across Wales.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Sharing our data, tackling challenges

Data sharing supports delivery of wellbeing objectives across Wales. We publish several hundred data assets on Data Map Wales and maintain extensive records online elsewhere. Such data sharing supports compliance with regulations and is used for developing collaborations. We have improved our approach to data sharing over 2023/24, whilst also making improvements around data quality and accessibility.

The need for data sharing is reflected within our corporate plan and is crucial for developing collaborations, ensuring that our key information is used more effectively. For example, activity around restoring nature, where we have said we will be sharing monitoring data with others and establishing a series of demonstration platforms.

We publish over 200 data assets, consisting of more than 500 individual datasets through Data Map Wales. We provide access to over two million species occurrence records via the National Biodiversity Network Atlas. We also maintain a catalogue of data we hold on our website, for over 1,500 datasets in Data Discovery (our metadata database).

Sharing data in an open, transparent, and readily accessible manner is a key part of evidence-based decision-making for Wales’s natural environment. And also a part of ensuring our compliance with the related regulations. As part of our work around data sharing, we:

  • Identify sensitive data to ensure that only legally permissible information is published.
  • Reflect data quality though metadata, redact data known to be of poor quality, and/or clearly mark any limitations to use.
  • Utilise technology to automate publishing, ensuring the latest evidence is readily available

Data sharing, along with other related activities, further underpin the achievement of wellbeing objectives and the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources; allowing the evidence to be utilised within external-facing data platforms such as our Environmental Information Portal, for the Teifi demonstrator project, and in the future, through part of a freshwater portal proof of concept being developed by Cardiff University.

A key example is the publishing of our Water Quality Archive on Data Map Wales in May 2023, which is updated monthly. This is free for the public to access, enhances transparency and support engagement in relation to water quality. The archive is a key evidence base for both marine and freshwater bodies in Wales, expanding the reach of this evidence, and also providing efficiencies via self-service access to this information.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Preparing the next State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR)

We have started to bring together evidence for the next State of Natural Resources Report, building on our last report. An Interim report, in December 2024, will set out our plans for our next report in detail.

Our third assessment of Wales's sustainable management of natural resources, the State of Natural Resources Report (SoNaRR2025), will be published in December 2025, following on from the publication of an interim report in December 2024. We expect this next SoNaRR to continue to be an important evidence base - convening and informing action across Wales - delivering better outcomes for nature and people, whilst continuing to provide a clear line of sight to underpinning evidence. SoNaRR:

  • Provides evidence and Welsh context around climate change, pollution and other drivers of change;
  • Reflects the pressures on, and state of, our natural resources - including biodiversity, water, air, soils and the ecosystems of Wales;
  • Describes impacts on the wellbeing of the people of Wales and beyond;
  • Sets out opportunities for action for policy makers and planners to improve Wales’s sustainable management of natural resources.

During 2023, we planned the assessment and started work to update the evidence. The last SoNaRR, SoNaRR2020, set out how Wales is starting to bridge the gap to sustainability, by using the well-being goals and ways of working under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, together with the SMNR principles from the Environment (Wales) Act. SoNaRR2025 will update the evidence, including the SoNaRR2020 opportunities for action, describe what has been done  and any new proposed actions.

The last interim (Draft) report, in 2019, introduced four measures of SMNR and focussed on the main challenges to Wales's natural resources - climate change and biodiversity loss. Two integrated opportunities (circular economy and green infrastructure) were outlined to manage resources for the benefit of nature and people

Following the publication of the 2019 interim report, the measures were described as Aims. The assessment against the aims (stocks of natural resources, resilient ecosystems, healthy places and regenerative economy); and the evidence behind the challenges; and taking a whole systems approach, were explored further in the final SoNaRR2020.

In SoNaRR2025, we are expecting to develop the evidence and policy messages around the integrated development challenges of: Human health and the environment; Cultural well-being and the environment; and Economic well-being and the environment. All have direct links to our new corporate plan and well-being objectives (which have used the evidence in SoNaRR2020 in relation to their development), whilst also reflecting our organisation’s ambition: to be bold, collaborative and lead on best practice.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Well-being objective 2: Communities are resilient to climate change

More Equal, Healthier, Resilient, Prosperous, Globally Responsible, Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language, Cohesive Communities

What is needed to ensure resilience to climate change?

“This means taking urgent action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate action to adapt to climate change, reducing the risks and impacts to all sectors of the economy whilst contributing to the Welsh Government ambition for a carbon neutral public sector by 2030, and a net zero Wales by 2050" - see Our Corporate Plan for more detail, on what our organisation is doing (including with others) to tackle this.

Our Corporate Plan outlines that we will take action to ensure community resilience to climate change will be secure by 2030 through: Nature-based solutions being adopted widely; Risks of climate change managed and adapted; Climate emissions reduced; Sustained action on climate change taken by people, communities and businesses; Being an exemplar organisation for a carbon positive public sector; and Making nature and communities resilient to climate change. Each year, our Business Plan includes priority commitments for the coming year. Our Business Plan for 2024/25 reflects our latest annual priority commitments, including around: priority actions in our net zero plan; delivery of a new flood warning system; and scaling up delivery of the National Peatland Programme.

Looking back over the last year, by the end of 2023/24, we:

  • Reduced flood risk (or sustained protection) for 1,047 properties via capital schemes. Measure status: Green
  • Maintained flood risk assets, achieving 97.2% (target 98%) at target condition within high-risk systems. Prolonged periods of wet, stormy weather have caused new defects, impacted ability to fix existing defects and meant resources being directed to reactive incident management. Measure status: Amber
  • Offered 706,000m3 of timber to market. Measure status: Green
  • Created new woodland on the land in our care, compensating for losses, with 504ha of land acquired for this in recent years though unable to meet our target for this year due to supply issues. Measure status: Amber
  • Acted to restore Wales’s peatlands, exceeding 450ha of peatland restoration activity (including 131ha on land in our care). Measure status: Green (see ‘National Peatland Action Programme’ for more on this)
  • Progressed but did not complete our fleet and built estate commitments. A change of approach to procurement and staff resource issues has caused more than a nine-month delay. Measure status: Red
  • Implemented flood review recommendations/actions, with 31 remaining as longer-term actions. Measure status: Green
  • Produced the updated Flood Risk Management Plan (FRMP) for Wales. Measure status: Green (see ‘Our Flood Risk Management Plan’ for more)

We have included more detail around some of the above on the following pages.

Improving the Marine Protected Area network through the Marine Nature Networks Programme

Through our three year Marine Nature Networks programme we are delivering a suite of projects focussed on priority issues affecting the management and condition of the Marine Protected Area Network. Projects aiming to: prevent negative impacts on ecosystems; support resilient coastlines and restore saltmarsh.

Through our three year Marine Nature Networks programme (2022-2025) we are delivering a suite of projects focussed on priority issues affecting the management and condition of the Marine Protected Area (MPA) Network. The MPA network, forming around 70% of the Welsh inshore area, is key for enabling the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources and recovering nature at sea.

Projects we have been working on include:

  • Development of biosecurity plans for six Special Area of Conservation (SAC) sites, including Cardigan Bay SAC and the Dee Estuary SAC, in order to prevent incursions of Invasive Non-native Species (INNS), such as the slipper limpet, which can have a devastating impact on ecosystems. The work has included holding a series of online and face to face workshops with stakeholders, such as recreational boating and fishing communities, to discuss effective measures preventing the spread of INNS.
  • Understanding the likely scale of habitat loss of Marine Protected Area features due to coastal squeeze, and identifying where opportunities for adaptation may exist; Loss of intertidal and coastal habitats as sea levels rise is increasingly impacting on the MPA Network. Evidence critical in informing future management to enable resilient coast lines.
  • Restoring saltmarsh in the Severn Estuary SAC, where at Rumney Great Wharf, we are implementing a project creating and reinstating ‘sedimentation polders’ (fencing, reducing water movement, to form saltmarsh in time). This year’s focus was creating a suitable design recognising the Severn Estuary is highly dynamic with extreme tidal ranges and the design had to be: feasible, support sediment build-up and withstand the physical pressures in this environment. We have also established collaborations with Universities to support monitoring and build understanding of this type of restoration.

We have made good progress in delivery and engagement with relevant partners and stakeholders this year and move into the final phase of project delivery in 2024/25.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Collaborative action

Our Flood Risk Management Plan

Our Flood Risk Management Plan sets out our priorities, planned measures and actions we will take through to 2029 - ensuring communities are resilient to flooding in the face of a changing climate and more extreme weather events.

We published our updated Flood Risk Management Plan in November 2023. The plan covers all of Wales and sets out the priorities for managing flood risk through to 2029 for the areas of flooding for which we have lead responsibilities: flooding from rivers, reservoirs and the sea. The plan is separated into an overarching national section alongside six place focussed sections. The set of measures and actions included in the plan will address the overall objective of reducing the risk to people and communities from flooding from main rivers, reservoirs and the sea, and support the delivery of the 14 priorities we have set out in the plan. All the priorities in the plan are equally important, with some of these around:

  • Developing and delivering catchment approaches to reduce flooding and contribute to ecosystem resilience, working with partners and stakeholders;
  • Improving community resilience to flood risk;
  • Seeking and taking opportunities for the health and wellbeing of communities, biodiversity and the environment;
  • Improving our flood warning service.

The plan highlights how climate change impacts must be factored into our actions, the long-term adaptation requirements specific to key areas and the contribution natural flood management can make to managing flood risk. As part of this, the plan includes the latest projections around properties at risk in Wales now, and in the future (2120). We will use the plan as a basis for more informed decision-making and discussions around delivery with partners, so that investment in reducing flood risk is targeted to the communities likely to be affected most.

One of our priority commitments for 2024/25 focusses on the delivery of a new flood warning system.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Restoration activity on peatland through the National Peatland Action Programme

We are restoring peatland through the National Peatland Action Programme (NPAP) - working with delivery partners, and the land in our care.

Since its start in 2020, the National Peatland Action Programme has made significant strides in peatland restoration activity across Wales and we consider this to be an exemplar of a nature-based solution - reducing carbon emissions and improving biodiversity (Low Carbon / High Nature). The approach to restoration also sees economic benefits through job creation, as well as sustainable land management practices being put in place. Over the year, we have:

  • Exceeded a 2023/24 target of 450ha per annum of peatland restoration activity - through direct delivery on the land in our care and other areas of land (in partnership with other landowners and land managers);
  • Launched our new competitive restoration delivery grant.
  • Funded a total of 18 partners;
  • Held our first National Practitioners event to share best practice, including around what does (and doesn’t) work ‘on the ground’.

Welsh Government have tasked us to grow the National Peatland Action Programme to help address Nature and Climate emergencies, building on an October 2022 commitment to tripling the annual target of peatland being restored – to reach 1,800 hectares (per annum) by 2030/31.

1,800 hectares per annum would put Wales on a trajectory capable of delivering the land use (peatland) component of net zero by 2050 - with a 38% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from Welsh peatlands by 2050. With a budget of £5.6M for 2024-25 we will continue to scale up the NPAP programme, as one of our priority commitments for 2024/25, increasing staff numbers for this and in turn the hectares of peatland restored.

For more on Peatland restoration action through NPAP, and previous reports on this, please see: National Peatland Action Programme

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Learning in, learning about and learning for the natural environment

We develop and deliver education programmes for the education and health sectors; Knowing every child and young person has the right to live, learn, play and grow up in a healthy and sustainably managed natural environment.

Recognising the role that children and young people have in the future sustainable management of our natural resources, coupled with our responsibilities as a Children’s Rights organisation, we continue to develop and deliver our education programmes for both the education and health sectors. Our outdoor learning, climate and nature education programmes help to ensure children and young people can benefit from increased attainment, increased opportunities for physical activity and the improved mental health and well-being a connection to nature can provide.

Our well-being objectives and the need to sustainably manage our natural resources run throughout our bilingual education resources to support all educators and settings to deliver across the Curriculum for Wales. We are now seeing these resources used by other groups and organisations to support formal and informal curricula.

Our face-to-face and webinar based training sessions are also being picked up by those outside of the education sector, whilst our continued use of the ‘Mantle of the Expert’ technique has seen teachers change their practice, and willing to share their experiences supporting learners via our blog series (e.g. in relation to growing food, and in primary/secondary school transition)

Working with our partners in Wales Council for Outdoor Learning we deliver Wales Outdoor Learning Week which sees the sector come together to celebrate. Our work with partners in Outdoor Learning Training Network Wales helps ensure the standards and quality of an ever-expanding range of Agored Cymru qualifications. Our work with Qualifications Wales is helping to ensure the natural environment and sustainability issues are woven throughout the revised 14 to 16 curriculum and we continue to expand our placement opportunities within NRW, currently hosting 6 apprentices in Enforcement and 12 higher education students in our Waste regulation function. Volunteers support us at Cynrig Hatchery and on Gower and in summer 2023 we welcomed 22 students for work experience across our teams and Wales.

Other support includes: our monthly newsletter now expanded to include health and well-being, support for self-led visits on the land we own and manage; providing advice and guidance on the benefits of spending time in nature; highlighting the benefits of a connection with nature leading to pro-environmental behaviours; our Education, Learning and Play YouTube playlist and campaigns like Acorn Antics

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Well-being objective 3: Pollution is minimised

More Equal, Healthier, Resilient, Prosperous, Globally Responsible, Vibrant Culture and Thriving Welsh Language, Cohesive Communities

What is needed to ensure pollution is minimised?

“This means taking action to minimise those things that harm human health, biodiversity and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, while simultaneously driving down waste by ensuring the reuse and substitution of materials in key sectors of the Welsh economy.”

Our Corporate Plan outlines that we will take action to ensure nature and people will be protected from the impacts of pollution by 2030 through: Effective use of regulatory tools and approaches; Risk-based incident response; Resource efficiency and wide adoption of the use of alternative materials; Pollution minimisation by people, communities and businesses; Being an exemplar organisation for zero pollution and waste; and Minimising pollution in our communities. Each year, our Business Plan includes priority commitments for the coming year. Our Business Plan for 2024/25 reflects our latest annual priority commitments, including around: implementation of the new workplace recycling legislation; minimising pollution of rivers and seas; and reviewing our approach to incident management. Looking back over the last year, by the end of 2023/24, we:

  • Subjected compliance breaches to further follow up compliance activity within six months. Measure status: Green
  • Acted to reduce the impact of nutrients in SAC rivers, including through changes to over 100 permits. Measure status: Green
  • Progressed activities to reduce pollution from metal mines. Measure status: Green
  • Completed all action within our control in regard to Water Company Planning Programmes however due to delays from Ofwat, final input into their PR24 draft determination is delayed. Measure status: Amber
  • Progressed programmes to review statutory water quality requirements however, we have not completed the review of progress with the River Basin Management Plans (RBMPs) which will continue into May 2024. Measure status: Amber
  • Responded to incidents, exceeding our 95% target for response within four hours to incidents classed as ‘high’ category. Measure status: Green
  • Decided on appropriate enforcement responses (to environmental crime) publishing related reports, though not all decisions met our 95% target within three months, due to the increasing impacts of resource restrictions. Measure status: Amber

Working with Network Rail

This year we reaffirmed our close working relationship with Network Rail through the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding – a partnership which enables us to work together in addressing nature recovery, enhancing community resilience to climate change and minimising pollution.

We have continued to strengthen a vital partnership with Network Rail which actively supports our shared areas of focus relevant to our mutual objectives. We have focused on setting the future direction needed to address our common goals through this year’s renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between our organisations for substantial environmental and community-focused benefits in the coming years.

Our joint annual objectives focus on a variety of areas across the new MoU's annexes (Flood Risk & Asset Management, Coastal & Marine, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Resilience and Incident Management) as well tackling more complex issues to improving the efficiency of licensing and permitting processes; All areas essential for accelerating our joint response to environmental challenges and a more sustainable interaction with natural resources.

Our organisations have already helped each other in relation to coastal and rivers schemes to reduce flood risk, protect habitats, manage land and better plan projects since the creation of the original MoU in 2016. Past partnership working between us has included remedial work following a freight train derailment (in 2020, at Llangennech) involving the excavation of 30,000 tonnes of fuel-soaked soil.

In adhering to the principles of Sustainable Management of Natural Resources (SMNR), we seek opportunities to work collaboratively on projects and day-to-day operations. We believe our joint working helps to mitigate immediate environmental risks and sets a precedent for responsible environmental stewardship across Wales. In the upcoming year, we aim to build upon our partnership with even greater vigour, ensuring that we continue to work towards a resilient, thriving natural environment.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Reducing agricultural pollution

We have been progressing a prioritised programme of inspections of higher risk agricultural sites to ensure compliance with the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations (CoAPR) - working constructively with farmers in support of them meeting their obligations in relation to these.

The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 were introduced by Welsh Government to reduce losses of pollutants from agriculture to the environment by setting regulations for certain farming practices (e.g. manure spreading).

Implementation of the regulations has been transitioned over a four-year period and the final set of measures, relating to closed periods for spreading, with subsequent limits for nitrogen loading and associated storage requirements will come into force in 2024/25.

We have a funded service level agreement with Welsh Government to undertake a prioritised programme of compliance inspections of higher risk agricultural activities across Wales (800 planned during 2024). We have a new team of trained officers (split into north and south Wales divisions) dedicated to undertaking this prioritised programme of inspections.

The inspection programme began in November of 2023 and continues into 2024/25.  As of 31 March 2024, 203 farms have been inspected. On the first visit, 127 (63%) were found to be non-compliant with one or more of the regulations whilst 76 (37%) were fully compliant with the regulations in force. Some requirements remain in transition, e.g. CoAPR Slurry storage requirements do not come into force until 1 August 2024. At the end of March 2024, 14 Farms (11% of the non-compliant farms) had been brought back into full compliance with the regulations, whilst 20 (17%) were reporting active progress towards full compliance. We will continue to work constructively with all inspected farms to move them into compliance within agreed timeframes. 

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Our water

Water is a vital resource - for people, businesses and agriculture, and critical to allow the economy to prosper. To ensure pollution is minimised we identify actions required of a range of sectors, and us. We have:

  • Influenced future water company investment, which is seeing a threefold increase in investment in the environment, including:
    • over 100 storm overflow improvements;
    • 28 fish passage schemes;
    • 2 constructed wetland trials; and
    • many other investigations and actions.
  • Been delivering our commitments to the First Minister’s Action Plan for SAC Rivers and chaired the fourth summit in March 2024.
  • Varied 140 permits that will contribute to reducing phosphorus entering our Special Area for Conservation (SAC) rivers, or ensuring no deterioration.
  • Assessed compliance with the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations (CoAPR) through a new team which aims to inspect over 800 farms in 2024 - assessing compliance with higher risk activities including producing, storing, or using high levels of organic manures. For more around this, please see the example reflected as ‘Reducing agricultural pollution’.
  • Progressed programmes to review statutory water quality requirements (one of our Business Plan dashboard measures for the year), completing milestone activity in relation to storm overflows. We have not completed our milestone in relation to progress with River Basin Management Plans; with this work continuing into 2024/25. Availability of staff resources and ICT system availability (for joining up actions with outcomes) also impacted our work on opportunity catchments and the investigations programme in 2023/24.
  • Taken an innovative approach to partnership working, alongside 18 organisations, to develop the Teifi Demonstrator project. We carried out internal and external engagement in its co-production, including a two-day hackathon event to generate ideas and solutions to water quality issues. We will learn from this initiative and the ‘Working Together’ consultation to build the learning into the development of River Basin Management Plans.
  • Invested approximately £65million over the last four years, received from Welsh Government, in targeting the fight against the Nature and Climate Emergency. This has delivered across a range of projects to improve our protected sites and water environment. We forecast a further spend of £28m in 2024-25.

One of our priority commitments for 2024/25 focusses on minimising the pollution of our rivers and seas.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action

Wildfires and storms response

Incidents pose significant challenges to the people, environment, and economy of Wales, and to us – for example, the need for response to (and planning for) wildfires and storms.

Following on from 2022 (the UK’s warmest year since 1884), multiple wildfires caused damage in the summer of 2023 and we responded to a number of storms in an exceptionally wet winter.

One incident we jointly attended, on 9th June 2023, was a major wildfire on the Welsh Government Woodland Estate on the Rhigos Mountain. This impacted a significant area (around 160 hectares), destroying habitat, closing roads and causing local recreational businesses (e.g. Zip World, at the former Tower Colliery site) to close for a period. Working with South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, we deployed extensive resource, including a specialist contracted helicopter and dedicated onsite resource to establish fire breaks. As a result of our combined actions, local infrastructure was protected, no properties were damaged, and further damage to the local environment and ecosystems was prevented.

The Rhigos wildfire was just one of multiple fires that impacted Wales natural environment in June 2023. Promoting a collaborative response to wildfires such as this was the previous focus of a demonstration and evidence project, to better manage our natural resources and minimise the impact and severity of wildfires - Healthy Hillsides.

Following on from four ‘named storms’ over the autumn, we saw six more over the winter, and each posed unique challenges and hazards. We continued to encourage individuals flood preparedness for the winter period, and we continued to create, maintain and repair flood infrastructure, though inevitably still see storm impacts.

For example, storm Gerrit, of 27-28 December 2023, saw near seventy mile per hour winds to the west coast of Wales; with around 40 properties impacted by flooding (from storms Gerrit and Hank). Our flood teams were extensively deployed throughout the winter in ensuring warnings and alerts were issued, and operational response in flooded areas.

One of our priority commitments for 2024/25 focusses on reviewing our approach to incident management.

Linked draft impact statement(s):

  • Biodiversity
  • Climate change
  • Pollution
  • Social and environmental justice
  • Collaborative action
  • Values and behaviours

Ceri Davies, Executive Director for Evidence, Policy and Permitting and Temporary Acting Accounting Officer - 16 October 2024

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