- 08/08/2013
- Posted by: Joyce Watson MS
- Categories: Blog, Feature
The controversy surrounding the unveiling of the world’s first lab-grown burger raises all sorts of ethical and scientific questions: can lab-grown meat help feed a future world population of 9 billion people? Does it unhelpfully shift the focus away from the need to adopt more sustainable farming methods? Is stem cell meat production serious science or “Frankenburger” folly? Time will tell.
What the story has done, though, is refresh the debate about food security and sustainable land management. It comes on the back of the State of Nature report, which highlighted just how delicate is the balance between agriculture and the natural environment.
In order to consider this matter, the National Assembly for Wales’ Environment and Sustainability committee, of which I am a member, is holding an inquiry into sustainable land management. Over the next few months we will be looking at the resilience and sustainability of land management practices and policies in Wales, and we want you to add your opinions. The consultation period in which you can add your thoughts and examples of good sustainable land management is open until 6th September 2013. After all evidence is collected and analysed the committee will make recommendations to the Welsh Government.
The committee will be looking at some key questions during the inquiry:
· What do we want sustainable land management in Wales to look like and what outcomes do we want to deliver in the short, medium and longer term?
· What are the barriers preventing us from delivering these outcomes now?
· How do we overcome these challenges?
· What are the main policy drivers and how can these be shaped to overcome these challenges?
Details about the inquiry and the topics it will cover can be found on the National Assembly for Wales website http://www.senedd.assemblywales.org/mgConsultationDisplay.aspx?id=89&RPID=1002778901&cp=yes
It is a meaty subject, one I am looking forward to sinking my teeth into.
