Wales to End Funding for Its Uganda Tree-Planting Scheme
Wales will stop paying for a tree-planting scheme in Uganda that opposition politicians have long branded woke. The Welsh government says tight budgets forced the choice. The charity that runs the scheme wants it reversed.
Funding ends in March 2027
Since 2015, Wales has given more than £4m to the climate charity Size of Wales. The money has supported work with Indigenous communities to plant trees in Uganda. The charity will lose its grant for the scheme at the end of March 2027.
Ministers say budget pressures meant hard choices had to be made. Plaid Cymru took over the Welsh government in May. The decision comes as it prepares to publish its draft budget for 2026-27 later this month.
A government spokesperson said Wales is developing a new international strategy. Future spending, the spokesperson said, should show impact and value for money and bring clear benefits to Wales and its partners. The spokesperson added: "That is not a judgement on the quality of the work." Praising a programme's success, the spokesperson said, does not mean funding the same delivery model for ever.
What the scheme has done
The programme is based around Mbale, in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda. More than 25 million trees have been planted there.
A document published by the previous government in August 2025 said Wales was helping some of the world's poorest people adapt to climate change. It also said the work protected local people in the area from deadly landslides.
Size of Wales itself works with Indigenous and local people around the world. Its aim is to grow trees and protect at least two million hectares of tropical forest, an area the size of Wales.
The argument over cost
Opponents have long objected to using taxpayers' money for the scheme. Last year, Labour ministers answered that it cost about £270,000 a year. They put that at 0.001% of the Welsh government's total annual budget in 2025.
Parties split on the decision
Right-wing parties in the Senedd welcomed the move. Left-wing politicians criticised it. Reform UK's leader in Wales, Helen Jenner, said her party had called for an end to this spending for years. Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar called the decision long overdue, but better late than never. He said foreign affairs and development lie outside Wales's responsibility, and that each pound spent on them is one taken from the NHS, schools and the Welsh economy.
Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds called it short-sighted. Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates said Plaid had repeatedly championed international programmes in opposition, yet what the party says now differs from what it does.
The charity asks for a rethink
Size of Wales has called on the government to reconsider. Its chairman, Tim Birch, said: "we need to strengthen, not retreat from, our commitment to global responsibility." He pointed to COP31 as a reason for Wales to keep showing leadership.
A second grant runs on for now. The government pays the charity £280,000 a year to deliver an education programme in Welsh schools. That runs until the end of March 2027. A proposal for its future is to go to the rural resilience and sustainability minister.
Source: BBC News