A highly critical report has questioned the Welsh government’s promises to combat nature loss and enhance biodiversity.

The Senedd’s cross-party environment committee warned that ministers lacked a “plan, action, and investment” to reverse alarming declines in wildlife.

One in six species, including water voles and curlews, is at risk of disappearing from Wales, where wildlife has declined by an average of 20% over the past 30 years.

The Welsh government stated it was “committed to tackling the nature emergency” and would review the report’s 30 recommendations.

However, the report found that current environmental legislation had failed to deliver its intended outcomes, as biodiversity continues to decline. It also noted that key policy documents guiding conservation efforts were “years out of date.”

The committee expressed deep concern that the promised update to the Nature Recovery Action Plan had yet to be implemented.

Its inquiry, which gathered evidence from experts and organisations, highlighted “delays, undelivered commitments, and missed deadlines.” The committee attributed this to insufficient staff and resources for environmental initiatives and cited cutbacks to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as a major concern.

Later this year, ministers are expected to introduce a long-awaited Nature Bill with new environmental protections.

In 2021, the government pledged to establish legally binding targets to support species and ecosystem recovery. However, the committee heard that detailed biodiversity targets are now likely to be delayed for another four years, pushing their implementation to at least 2029.

This delay is significant given the Welsh government’s endorsement of a landmark international agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

At the COP15 biodiversity summit in Montreal, Canada, in 2022, then Climate Change Minister Julie James committed to protecting and managing 30% of Wales’ land and sea for nature by 2030.

Llyr Gruffydd, chair of the Senedd’s climate change, environment, and infrastructure committee, criticised the government for failing to back up its rhetoric with action.

“They’ve been talking the talk for a long time, we now need to see them walking the walk,” he said.

He argued that delaying biodiversity targets until 2029 undermines the commitment to restoring nature by 2030.

“That means reneging on an international commitment that they’ve made which isn’t acceptable,” he added.

“We need to see faster action from the government and not this foot-dragging… because if nature suffers then humanity suffers as well.”

“With 2030 only five years away, the Welsh government need to be prioritising setting targets to halt and reverse the loss of nature in Wales by 2030 to bring Wales in line with international biodiversity agreements it has already signed up to,” said Policy and Advocacy Manager at WWF Cymru Alex Philips.

Annie Smith, head of nature policy and casework at RSPB Cymru, echoed these concerns, stating that while the Welsh government has made ambitious pledges, it is failing to deliver on them.

“Chronic under-investment in our species and habitats has led to a situation where only a fraction of our protected areas are in good condition and our wildlife is declining at an alarming rate,” she added.

The Welsh government said it recognised “the need to increase the scale and pace of our delivery to meet both current and future biodiversity targets”.

A government spokesperson pointed to existing initiatives, such as the National Forest Programme and Local Places for Nature scheme, noting that £150 million had been invested in conservation efforts during this Senedd term.

“As the report notes a whole-Wales approach is needed, it is not just for government to tackle on its own,” she added.

An NRW spokesperson said the agency was “reviewing the recommendations” and emphasised its ongoing efforts to restore Wales’ landscapes through the Nature Networks Programme.

The organisation added the “scale of the nature emergency means we must all do more and work together across government, business and society”.