§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what estimate he has of the area of land covered by bracken in Wales;
(2) what estimate he has of the probable area of land covered by bracken in Wales, at present rates of encroachment, by the year 2000.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsAs I said in my reply to the hon. Gentleman on 24 January 1986, at column322, estimates put forward by research organisations suggest that 118,000 hectares in Wales are subject to bracken infestation and that the annual rate of encroachment is between 1 and 3 per cent.
I have no estimate of the probable area of infestation by the year 2000 because bracken infestation is so variable.
§ Mr. Ron Daviesasked the Secretary of State for Wales how many grants were paid for the purpose of bracken control in Wales; and what was their total value in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. Nicholas EdwardsThe information requested is not available for bracken only, but the number of payments and the amount of grant paid in respect of bracken control and heather regeneration was as follows:
411W
Number of Payments Grant (£) 1981 19 7,076 1982 31 15,075 1983 28 8,766 1984 25 15,692 1985 49 22,654