Environment (Wales) Act 2016

Introduction

1 Purpose of this Part

The purpose of this Part is to promote sustainable management of natural resources.

2 Natural resources

In this Part, “natural resources” includes (but is not limited to)—

(a) animals, plants and other organisms;

(b) air, water and soil;

(c) minerals;

(d) geological features and processes;

(e) physiographical features;

(f) climatic features and processes.

3 Sustainable management of natural resources

(1) In this Part, “sustainable management of natural resources” means—

(a) using natural resources in a way and at a rate that promotes achievement of the objective in subsection (2),

(b) taking other action that promotes achievement of that objective, and

(c) not taking action that hinders achievement of that objective.

(2) The objective is to maintain and enhance the resilience of ecosystems and the benefits they provide and, in so doing—

(a) meet the needs of present generations of people without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and

(b) contribute to the achievement of the well-being goals in section 4 of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (anaw 2).

4 Principles of sustainable management of natural resources

In this Part, the “principles of sustainable management of natural resources” are—

(a) manage adaptively, by planning, monitoring, reviewing and, where appropriate, changing action;

(b) consider the appropriate spatial scale for action;

(c) promote and engage in collaboration and co-operation;

(d) make appropriate arrangements for public participation in decision-making;

(e) take account of all relevant evidence and gather evidence in respect of uncertainties;

(f) take account of the benefits and intrinsic value of natural resources and ecosystems;

(g) take account of the short, medium and long term consequences of actions;

(h) take action to prevent significant damage to ecosystems;

(i) take account of the resilience of ecosystems, in particular the following aspects—

(i) diversity between and within ecosystems;

(ii) the connections between and within ecosystems;

(iii) the scale of ecosystems;

(iv) the condition of ecosystems (including their structure and functioning);

(v) the adaptability of ecosystems.