Watchdog criticises public bodies in Wales over failure to comply with biodiversity duty

Audit Wales has criticised public authorities in Wales for failing to comply with key biodiversity requirements including the duty to prepare a biodiversity plan.

In a report, The Biodiversity and Resilience of Ecosystems Duty, the watchdog also criticised the Welsh Government itself in one respect.

Audit Wales said the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 aimed 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,” Audit Wales said.

However, the watchdog found that more than eight years since the duty came into force, nearly half of public authorities covered by Audit Wales’ work had not complied with the requirement to both prepare and publish a biodiversity plan.

The Regulator also found that approaches to planning varied widely, with around a quarter of public authorities never having produced a biodiversity report. “This is despite the Welsh Government providing reporting guidance and an optional template.”

Audit Wales meanwhile found that the Welsh Government “has not complied with its own planning requirement, is not effectively monitoring public authorities’ compliance, and is currently unable to assess the overall impact of the duty on biodiversity decline”.

The report suggested that weaknesses in the 2016 Act and its guidance left their coverage and intent open to interpretation.

Audit Wales did acknowledge examples of efforts to integrate biodiversity and nature ambitions with wider policies.

However, the report also warned of uncertainty about which public authorities are covered by the duty, and the need to strengthen Welsh Government guidance and monitoring.

“Our recommendations relate mainly to the current duty. However, we recognise that the Welsh Government will need to consider its actions alongside its proposals to change environmental law,” it said.

Adrian Crompton, Auditor General, said: “The duty set out in the Act ought to be a powerful statement about the need for all public authorities to take decisive action on biodiversity decline. But good intentions and examples of funding for biodiversity action are not enough.

"The Welsh Government itself needs to do more to lead by example, support improvement, and take a more active interest in the application and impact of its own legislation. It has an opportunity to do just that as it considers change to environmental law but will need to ensure this area of work gets the priority it deserves if it is to reverse nature loss for future generations.”