MORE than 250 jobs are at risk at Natural Resources Wales (NRW) as the government environment agency tries to reduce its staff budget by £13 million.

It said three visitor centres may close as it focuses on making sure activities that impact nature, climate, and minimising pollution are prioritised.

A 45-day staff and unions consultation is underway and NRW said it would try to reduce redundancies. At the time of writing, the agency was unable to provide any detail on how many of the potential job losses could affect its forestry wing. 

Clare Pillman, chief executive of NRW, said: “Public funding is exceptionally tight across the whole of the UK. As such, we are having to look across all of our remit and critically review what we can and must continue to do, what we stop, and what we slow or do differently to fulfil our Corporate Plan ambitions. This is no different to any other public sector body at the moment.

“We have launched a consultation with staff on our proposals for changes in our staffing structure. The aim is to mitigate job losses as much as possible.

“Some of these changes, if implemented, will impact our partners, customers, and stakeholders. Following our consultation, the NRW Board will make a final decision on changes and at that point we will explain what the changes mean in the delivery of services."

It's understood that visitor centres Coed y Brenin near Dolgellau, Gwynedd and Nant yr Arian and Ynyslas centres, near Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, will close at the end of March 2025 if the changes are made.

Clare added: “There will not be a public consultation on our proposals.  In 2022-23 we held a public consultation on our new Corporate Plan, Nature and People Thriving Together, which sets our strategic direction and priorities through to 2030.  This consultation with the Trade Unions is about how we ensure a focus on those Corporate Plan priorities whilst adapting to live within our financial means.

"This is a challenging time for everyone working at NRW and we ask that the public support our people as they go through this consultation.”

The news comes at a time when many in forestry have expressed concerns about the way NRW views the industry. Some timber merchants have claimed the government agency is more interested in creating “Center Parcs for London couples” than supporting productive forestry, with sector leaders suggesting work has been “dropped at short notice on a large scale”.