Land Restoration and Carbon Conflicts in Welsh Farming Communities
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Sussex
Department Name: Sch of Global Studies
Abstract
As the UK races to mitigate climate change and find a way to deliver its commitments to net zero targets, the government, devolved nations and private groups have developed a range of plans to invest in reforestation, with projects aimed at both the regeneration of woodland and profitable rapid-growth plantations for carbon offsetting and timber extraction. Research has shown these different forms of reforestation provide widely-ranging biodiversity benefits, but less research has been conducted into the social changes that they also give rise to. This research project will address this gap in our knowledge and in academic, policy and public debates by analysing the boom in carbon plantations and farmland purchases in Carmarthenshire, Wales, and the subsequent fierce conflicts over land prices, land use, and landscape simplification.
While research has been conducted on the implications of international offsetting in a number of contexts, less focus has been placed on the emerging national and sub-national markets, and Wales has received next to no attention, despite the insights it could offer to policymakers and to the wider debates around reforestation. Equally, policy and activist discussions on the impact of carbon markets on Welsh agriculture are often simplistically framed as a choice between intensive plantations or hands-off rewilding, with little understanding of the diverse socioecological impacts of different forms of land restoration, and the role of national carbon removal policies and incentives. This research thus draws on research into international voluntary carbon market projects to analyse the emerging dynamics and social conflicts in Wales, developing existing work conducted on the production of carbon (Boyd and Prudham 2017, Carton and Andersson 2017) and agrarian futures (Borras Jr. et al. 2022), while offering critical insights for policymakers in the UK and Europe into the impact of carbon offsetting on communities in the UK.
The research has three key objectives:
-To analyse the connection between carbon and reforestation policies and farmland purchases in the UK.
-To investigate the ecological nature of the plantation models being installed within private sector reforestation schemes within the wider emerging carbon landscapes in Wales.
-To establish networks to offer policy advice and provide the basis for long-term research leadership on carbon offsetting and land restoration in the UK and beyond.
The project will thus both investigate the scale and nature of the trend for carbon forestry while placing the currently side-lined concerns of local communities as central to the debate on future landscapes of trees and carbon in the UK. What future do they see for Welsh farming? How will their practices change in the face of climate change? What is the vision that they have for the future of the valleys in which they live? Combining these areas of investigation will deliver conceptual impact in reframing the global debates around carbon offsetting and tree planting programmes and instrumental impact in influencing the existing policies of the Welsh and UK Governments. The research and funding will form the basis of peer-reviewed academic publications, support significant networking and research community building and develop clear UK and Welsh policy advice.
While research has been conducted on the implications of international offsetting in a number of contexts, less focus has been placed on the emerging national and sub-national markets, and Wales has received next to no attention, despite the insights it could offer to policymakers and to the wider debates around reforestation. Equally, policy and activist discussions on the impact of carbon markets on Welsh agriculture are often simplistically framed as a choice between intensive plantations or hands-off rewilding, with little understanding of the diverse socioecological impacts of different forms of land restoration, and the role of national carbon removal policies and incentives. This research thus draws on research into international voluntary carbon market projects to analyse the emerging dynamics and social conflicts in Wales, developing existing work conducted on the production of carbon (Boyd and Prudham 2017, Carton and Andersson 2017) and agrarian futures (Borras Jr. et al. 2022), while offering critical insights for policymakers in the UK and Europe into the impact of carbon offsetting on communities in the UK.
The research has three key objectives:
-To analyse the connection between carbon and reforestation policies and farmland purchases in the UK.
-To investigate the ecological nature of the plantation models being installed within private sector reforestation schemes within the wider emerging carbon landscapes in Wales.
-To establish networks to offer policy advice and provide the basis for long-term research leadership on carbon offsetting and land restoration in the UK and beyond.
The project will thus both investigate the scale and nature of the trend for carbon forestry while placing the currently side-lined concerns of local communities as central to the debate on future landscapes of trees and carbon in the UK. What future do they see for Welsh farming? How will their practices change in the face of climate change? What is the vision that they have for the future of the valleys in which they live? Combining these areas of investigation will deliver conceptual impact in reframing the global debates around carbon offsetting and tree planting programmes and instrumental impact in influencing the existing policies of the Welsh and UK Governments. The research and funding will form the basis of peer-reviewed academic publications, support significant networking and research community building and develop clear UK and Welsh policy advice.
