The body responsible for protecting the environment in Wales has been accused of being “wasteful” and “hypocritical” because of its spending on petrol and diesel vehicles.

Freedom of Information requests from the Taxpayers’ Alliance and the Countryside Alliance have revealed that Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has spent more than £1.6m on buying and hiring vehicles over the past three years.

Although some of the vehicles were electric, the vast bulk were petrol or diesel including six leases of the Isuzu D Max Extra Cab, with CO2 emissions of 220g/km putting it in the third highest of 13 categories for government vehicles taxes.

The revelations come despite NRW, the largest quango in Wales with an annual budget of £180m, previously calling on all bodies and individuals “to change their behaviour to reduce greenhouse gases”.

The freedom of information requests show the following expenditure by NRW:

2019/20: £596,845.19 on vehicle purchases, £187,153.63 on hire

2020/21: £601,599.68 on vehicle purchases, £179,756.79 on hire

2021/22: £445,809.20 on vehicle purchases, £139,285.37 on hire

A further £626,656 was spent on petrol and diesel for staff personal cars over the same three-year period.

According to its own website, the body “aims to carry out our work... in an excellent way and to promote our learning on emissions reductions across Wales”.

NRW is the Welsh Government’s chief adviser on environment and natural resources was formed in 2013, taking over the duties of the Countryside Council, the Forestry Commission and the Environment Agency, as well as some of the government’s own work.

NRW have claimed they work hard to reduce emissions and need vehicles suitable to move in difficult terrain and respond to environmental incidents.

Rachel Evans, director of Countryside Alliance Wales said: “The publication of these figures comes at a time when questions are being asked about NRW’s priorities, especially in the context of a cost of living crisis. They must take urgent action to reign in their spending and focus on protecting our environment and the Welsh countryside.

“While we can understand the need for terrain suitable vehicles for emergencies and certain projects, we are still left with questions over the large number of estate cars and hatchbacks within its substantial fleet on top of the substantial sums spent on refuelling staff personal petrol and diesel cars. We expect and hope NRW become much more upfront when it comes to their spending, going forward. The public should know exactly what NRW are spending our money on and the reasoning behind it, made available annually on their website”.

Dr Mike Jones, researcher at the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Taxpayers are fed up of hypocrisy from public bodies. This is yet another quango not only failing to do its job, but doing damage to the cause they supposedly promote. Time for the Welsh government to get a grip on this wasteful body”.

NRW told the Brecon and Radnor Express they are “committed to taking action to address the climate emergency” and reduce fleet emissions - both in terms of less miles and using greener alternatives:

They also said that new ways of working are reducing the number of business miles travelled, citing a 30 per cent decrease in emissions compared to pre pandemic levels.

Victoria Rose-Piper, NRW head of business support services said: “To date, seven per cent of our car and van fleet is electric. We have further electric vehicles on order, but supply chain issues are affecting delivery.

“Our work involves responding to flooding and environmental incidents across Wales as well as carrying out other key areas of work including reservoir maintenance, forestry management, environmental monitoring and the prevention and response to wildlife crime. To do that, we need vehicles that are fit for purpose.

“While we are committed to moving to electric fleet, electric vehicle technology is not yet mature enough for large vans, 4x4s and some of our plant machinery. As an interim measure, we are transitioning from diesel to HVO fuel (hydrotreated vegetable oil) for these vehicles. This reduces net CO2 emissions by up to 90 per cent, whilst being 100 per cent renewable.“