A GAME of Thrones star has added his voice to a group of charities urging Wales to lead the way in protecting forests.
Iwan Rheon, who played the villainous Ramsay Bolton in the hit show, has joined WWF Cymru, Size of Wales and RSPB Cymru, in calling for Wales to become the first ‘deforestation free nation’.
In the run up to the Senedd elections, the group is calling on all parties to commit to policies that will remove imported deforestation from Welsh supply chains.
An estimated 18 million hectares of forest is lost globally every year, an area of forest the size of a rugby pitch is lost every two seconds.
These habitats are being deforested to produce just a handful of commodities, namely palm oil, soy, rubber, timber, pulp and paper, coffee, cacao and beef. Many of these commodities are imported into Wales.
Mr Rheon said “We need to take responsibility for how our actions at home in Wales have catastrophic consequences for nature abroad, and add fuel to the climate crisis.
“I urge the next Welsh Government to lead by example and stop importing products and commodities that are destroying the world’s rainforests and their incredible wildlife.
“Let’s create a future Wales where we are nothing but proud of our global contribution”
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His call is backed by the Welsh public with a recent YouGov Survey revealing that over 80 per cent of Welsh adults agree we need a food chain that helps the environment.
Nearly half (44 per cent) of Welsh adults said they consider their contribution to deforestation in their food choices with a further 10 per cent saying lockdown had made them consider deforestation in supply chains more carefully.
The coalition have outlined how policymakers and businesses can work together to achieve this through their new report ‘Making Wales a Deforestation Free Nation’.
The report proposes ten key recommendations including introducing deforestation free targets in funding Welsh Government provides to businesses and ensuring sustainable food and farming practices do not contribute to deforestation overseas.
