EU exit
Information about what the UK's exit from the...
Wales is currently under alert level 4 of the Welsh Government’s Coronavirus (Covid-19) regulations, meaning that travel in Wales should be for essential purposes only.
These regulations state that exercise should start and finish from home, and generally this should not involve people driving to a location away from home.
Where there is a legitimate reason to travel to our sites, such as a specific health condition or mobility issue, you should only drive to the nearest convenient, accessible location.
Last updated 11 January 2021
Our visitor centres and cafés are currently closed.
The car parks, trails, play areas and toilets in most of our woodlands and nature reserves are open. Under the current coronavirus restrictions in Wales, this is intended only for the use of people who live locally.
Welsh Government's COVID-19 regulations state that exercise should start and finish from home. You should not drive to a location away from home. Where there is a legitimate reason to travel, such as a specific health condition or mobility issue, you should only drive to the nearest convenient, accessible location.
Our mountain bike trails are only open for people who do not need to drive to access them.
If using any of our sites to exercise, you should do so alone or with members of your household or support bubble.
When visiting our woodlands, remember to follow the Welsh Government rules that apply to everyone living or travelling in Wales and:
Find out what's open at your local woodland or nature reserve.
Most of our staff are working from home. We continue to visit sites to collect data during significant environmental incidents and deal with issues of the highest environmental and public risk.
We are adapting to different ways of working and supporting our staff but we are mindful that our service capacity may be affected.
We will update this page with news on how our services have been affected and post updates on our Facebook page and our Twitter account.
We expect businesses and individuals to continue to comply with environmental regulations and their permit conditions. This includes developing contingency plans and putting appropriate measures in place to ensure that all reasonable actions are taken to foresee and mitigate any potential issues.
If a regulated business or individual is facing problems complying with their permit conditions as a direct result of the exceptional circumstances we currently face, then they should:
If regulated business and individuals follow these guidelines we will take a proportionate and reasonable approach to how we assess compliance during this public health emergency. We will work with operators to find the best solutions to safeguarding the environment and helping businesses adapt in these challenging circumstances.
We will continue to check and assess compliance in a number of ways including phone calls, focused visits to priority sites and using a range of alternative methods for gathering intelligence.
We have published temporary regulatory decisions to help deal with issues arising directly from the coronavirus pandemic.
We have published temporary regulatory decisions to help deal with issues arising directly from the coronavirus pandemic.
These will help minimise risks to the environment and human health where, for reasons beyond your control, compliance with certain regulatory requirements may not be possible due to coronavirus.
They also cover specific circumstances where we are relaxing normal regulatory requirements. This is to avoid increasing risks to the environment or human health during the particular circumstances of the coronavirus outbreak.
Each regulatory decision sets out when they apply and the conditions you must comply with. You must still comply with all of your other environmental regulatory requirements.
If you wish to use a coronavirus regulatory decision you must comply with both its:
If you do this, we will not normally take enforcement action against you.
Spreading waste milk on agricultural land - Following a review this regulatory decision is no longer applicable.
Read our regulatory decisions for waste management:
Read our regulatory decisions for monitoring and reporting:
Read our regulatory decisions for reservoirs
Some organisations host events at our sites. We do not take part in the organisation of these events so we are not able to help with updates on these.
Please contact the event organiser directly if you would like to know if there are changes to an event you are attending.
We have been working with our partners to write guidance for managers of natural and outdoor cultural sites. This will help with preparations to open and operate sites as safely as possible when Welsh Government advises it is safe to do so.
The guidance is advisory and will be regularly updated in line with the latest Welsh Government advice, and as the evidence and our experience of coronavirus grows.
This is intended to complement the wider suite of information published by Welsh Government to help prepare for the easing of restrictions.
We're continuing with our harvesting operations to assist the supply of wood products.
All of our forestry sites are subject to strict checks to ensure that we are operating within current Government guidelines on coronavirus and social distancing measures.
We remain in close contact with Public Health Wales. We are keeping our procedures under review to help our staff, contractors, customers and partners stay safe.
We are processing felling licence applications and Environment Impact Screening Requests as normal. We aim to complete these in the standard timescales. If there are delays with your application we will keep you informed and may request additional time to make our determination.
We are not carrying out site visits for these applications unless there is an essential reason i.e. a significant environmental concern. If a site visit is required, we will follow the Government guidance on social distancing. We would not expect to meet site managers, but we will contact them in advance to ensure we can conduct it safely.
Our licensing staff are working from home and can be contacted via email on fellinglicence@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.
Welsh Government have set up hardship relief measures for suppliers during the coronavirus pandemic.
We have reviewed the options available and developed a commercial activity policy note for our supplier and tenants. This explains what supplier relief is available from us and if any changes to existing agreements can be made.
Our staff from across the organisation are working from home wherever possible. This means we can't accept paper application forms at this time.
You will be able to submit forms electronically and if required you can make payments via BACS.
Whilst we hope to keep disruption to a minimum, please be aware there may be a longer processing time while we adapt to new ways of working.
We will continue to advertise and consult on permit applications as normal. The timing of each consultation is determined by the legislation, once an application is made.
For high public interest applications we will consider if we need to change how we consult people. This will be arranged on a case by case basis and communicated on through our normal channels.
If you want to submit a response to a consultation during this time please email permittingconsultations@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk.
For projects in Pembrokeshire, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot and Bridgend please email swplanning@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.
For projects in Cardiff, Newport, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Tâf, Torfaen, Monmouthshire, Brecon Beacons National Park, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil please email southeastplanning@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.
For projects in Gwynedd, Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham, Powys, Ceredigion, Snowdonia National Park please email northplanning@cyfoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.
If you manage a cemetery and need to increase burial capacity please discuss this with us before you begin any work.
We will be able provide advice on the suitability of the site and work with you to prevent or limit groundwater pollution.
All potential sites will need to be environmentally screened and risk assessed. Detailed guidance on groundwater protection and producing a risk assessment can be found on the Gov.uk website:
Recent events have significantly impacted our staffing levels within our analytical services teams. We are making every effort to meet our analytical commitments, but these may be affected at this time.
We continue to attempt to deliver all existing and agreed analysis. To be able to do this, we have decided to decline any new commercial work until further notice.
This decision hasn’t been taken lightly but we need to ensure we offer realistic expectations to our customers. We appreciate that this may cause you disruption. We apologise and thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding in these difficult times.
If you have concerns then please email our analytical services. Our usual response times could be impacted by current events.