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- Wales has a surface area of 20,779 km2 or 2,077,900 ha. It has a border with England to the east, and is bounded by the Irish Sea to the north and west, and by the Bristol Channel to the south. It has an oceanic temperate climate which is markedly influenced by the North Atlantic Current carrying warm water from tropical latitudes. As a result, it has a much milder climate than most places in the world at similar latitudes. Altitudes range from sea-level to 1085 m on the Snowdon Massif. The ways in which land is used in Wales reflect conditions of climate, geology and topography, modified by long traditions of land management. Sheep-grazed pasture predominates in all of the lowland zone, with arable fields mainly confined to the east of the country, although specialised early potato enterprises are favoured by the mild climate of the western peninsulas of Llŷn and Pembrokeshire. Some parts, like the Vale of Tywi and the coastal plain of Ceredigion are famed for dairy farming, as the combinations of soils and climate mean that good quality grass can be reliably grown. In contrast, many more elevated parts of the Welsh land are of limited use for agriculture, and extensive upland conifer forests were planted in the years following the two world wars. Wild habitats occupy steep land and other areas that are less profitable for commercial use, such as wetlands, moorlands and mountainous terrain. Compared with many countries, wild habitats are scattered and inextensive, but they include significant cliff, dune and other coastal habitats; increasingly rare species-rich pastures and meadows, and wet semi-natural pastures known as rhos in relatively lowland situations. grasslands are areas of open, moderately or lightly grazed often minimally managed pastures on the partially enclosed slopes above the cultivated farmland, whilst oak woodlands are found on steep banks and valley sides, and there is an extensive assortment of moorland and mountain vegetation types. Limestone vegetation is not widespread, but is particularly important to conservationists because so many unusual species occur. Farming and forestry account for nearly all of the land surface, but there are other land-uses that overlap with this. For example, 20% of Wales is designated as National Parks. Unlike the National Parks in some other countries, like the US, the three Welsh Parks, Snowdonia, the Pembrokeshire Coast and the Brecon Beacons incorporate large swathes of farmed and afforested land. Other areas are designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, also comprising a mixture of land uses. Many forested areas are used for recreational activities like cycling, hiking and car rallying, whilst several of the rivers provide facilities for canoeists, and some of the lakes and reservoirs are popular for sailing. The high rainfall of Wales means that the river catchments (called "watersheds" in American English) are important for water supply, and have to be used in ways compatible with the safe collection and storage of water supplies. According to Welsh government research in 2010 the area of potential wind farm land in Wales was 3027 km2. Although wind farms put some constraints on farming and forestry, they are not incompatible with these land uses. The most recent figures for proportions of agricultural land are from 2011, and for forest and woodland from 2015. These figures show that nearly 50% of the land area was under permanent grass. Arable land occupied about 9% of the area, and rough grazing some 20%, with woodlands on farms accounting for more than 3%. Broadleaved (deciduous) woodland covered 5.5% and coniferous woodland (mainly forestry plantations) 6%. Natural Resources Wales' report on Woodlands for Wales indicators, currently (February 2018) states that the area of woodland in Wales is now 306,000 ha, comprising 156,000 ha of broadleaves, and 150,000 ha of conifers. Thus, since the 2015 statistics quoted above, broadleaved woodland has overtaken coniferous forests in its coverage of Wales. Other woodland types such as cleared and recently planted land covered a further 2% of the land. The remaining 4.5% of the land is under urban and industrial land-uses, including a significant proportion of land spoiled by industrial wastes, like coal and slate tips. The proportions of land covered by urban and industrial uses vary hugely from region to region, with areas of south-east Wales in particular being heavily urbanised. For example, Blaenau Gwent in the industrial part of south Wales is 20% built up, whilst Powys in mid-Wales is less than 1% built up. (en)
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