English: I'd like to thank you for your statement today, Deputy Minister. I'm very lucky to live close to some of the most spectacular and celebrated stretches of our country's coastline, one of those being the Pembrokeshire coast. I do represent many more miles, of course, and most of the coastal path is, in fact, in my region, and it stretches from the Llŷn peninsula to Carmarthen bay. There are unique discoveries to be found all along the 870 uninterrupted miles of the Welsh coastline - so I won't be doing a circular walk in a day - from rare wildlife to industrial heritage. And you can see both together, if you know where to look. You will see kestrels, little owls and many other examples of bird life living in what are disused, now, industrial sites, but they're not unused industrial sites if you care to look for those things. So, I think we need to join those two elements together to tell another story that we are able to do. I think that the Wales Coast Path Walking Festival, ending this week, has been brilliant in celebrating and promoting the coastal path. I think it's also worth reminding ourselves that the Wales coastal path is just seven years old. So, we have moved along pretty quickly within those seven years. And we know that visitors have always headed to our coast for different reasons, whether it was the miners' fortnight at Barry Island, or whether it was dolphin watching in Cardigan bay. But we've created the unbroken path; it's a continuous physical link. The Wales coast path project can, going forward, create more opportunities to link together those different visitor experiences and therefore boost tourism in the years to come. I have to agree with David Melding when he talks about this being high-end tourism, because people who walk the path do it for many different reasons - bird-watching is one reason, photography will be another reason - and there will be sales of cameras and binoculars, backpacks and other things along the way, and those people who sell those goods really do gain from this creation. So, I hope that you'll continue to support and promote initiatives like the walking festival, which do help to sell the Welsh coast as a destination for more reasons and all seasons, and I think that that's a key message, because people do walk this path in all seasons and for many different reasons. One of the questions that I would like, Deputy Minister, is whether you will join me in thanking the people who keep that path open, from the staff who work - and I've met some of them; I'm sure others have - in all sorts of weathers to the volunteers who also take up opportunities to make sure that we can keep walking this path, and also to recognise - and other people have mentioned it today - the real benefits to people, particularly mental health benefits, from either volunteering in working opportunities to keep that path in good order, or to escape to the countryside just to make them feel good and so that they can escape the pressures of work. I think that that is of critical importance, which is now, I'm glad to say, eventually being recognised.
Welsh: Hoffwn i ddiolch ichi am eich datganiad heddiw, Dirprwy Weinidog. Rwy'n lwcus iawn o gael byw yn agos i rai o ddarnau mwyaf ysblennydd a nodedig arfordir ein gwlad, ac un o'r rhai hynny yw arfordir Sir Benfro. Rwyf i'n cynrychioli llawer mwy o filltiroedd, wrth gwrs, ac mae'r rhan fwyaf o lwybr yr arfordir, mewn gwirionedd, yn fy rhanbarth i, ac mae'n ymestyn o Benrhyn Llŷn hyd Fae Caerfyrddin. Mae pethau unigryw i'w darganfod ar hyd yr 870 milltir di-dor o arfordir Cymru - felly nid gwneud taith gerdded gylchol mewn un diwrnod y byddaf i - o fywyd gwyllt prin i dreftadaeth ddiwydiannol. A gallwch weld y ddau gyda'i gilydd, os ydych chi'n gwybod ble i edrych. Byddwch yn gweld y cudyll, tylluanod bach a llawer o enghreifftiau eraill o adar yn byw mewn safleoedd sydd bellach yn safleoedd diwydiannol segur, ond nid ydyn nhw'n safleoedd diwydiannol segur os ydych chi'n hoffi chwilio am bethau o'r fath. Felly, rwy'n credu bod angen inni gyfuno'r ddwy elfen hynny i ddweud stori arall yr ydym ni'n gallu ei dweud. Credaf fod Gŵyl Gerdded Llwybr Arfordir Cymru, sy'n dod i ben yr wythnos hon, wedi bod yn ardderchog o ran dathlu a hyrwyddo'r llwybr arfordirol. Rwy'n credu hefyd ei bod yn werth atgoffa ein hunain mai dim ond saith mlwydd oed yw llwybr arfordir Cymru. Felly, rydym wedi symud ymlaen yn lled gyflym o fewn y saith mlynedd hynny. A gwyddom fod ymwelwyr bob amser wedi heidio i'n harfordir am wahanol resymau, boed hynny'n bythefnos y glowyr ar Ynys y Barri, neu i wylio dolffiniaid ym Mae Ceredigion. Ond rydym wedi llunio llwybr sy'n ddi-dor; mae'n gyswllt ffisegol parhaus. Gall prosiect llwybr arfordir Cymru, yn y dyfodol, greu mwy o gyfleoedd i gysylltu'r gwahanol brofiadau hynny ar gyfer ymwelwyr, gan hybu twristiaeth yn y blynyddoedd i ddod. Mae'n rhaid i mi gytuno â David Melding pan ddywed mai twristiaeth sy'n dod ag arian i mewn yw hyn, gan fod y bobl sy'n cerdded ar y llwybr yn gwneud hynny am lawer o resymau amrywiol - mae gwylio adar yn un rheswm, a ffotograffiaeth yn rheswm arall - a bydd camerâu a binocwlars, gwarbaciau a phethau eraill yn cael eu gwerthu ar hyd y ffordd, ac mae'r bobl sy'n gwerthu'r nwyddau hynny yn mynd i elwa'n wirioneddol ar hyn. Felly, rwy'n gobeithio y byddwch chi'n parhau i gefnogi a hyrwyddo mentrau fel yr ŵyl gerdded, sydd yn helpu i werthu arfordir Cymru fel cyrchfan am fwy o resymau ac ym mhob tymor. A chredaf mai dyna'r neges allweddol, gan fod pobl yn cerdded y llwybr hwn ym mhob tymor neu am lawer o resymau amrywiol. Un o'r cwestiynau yr hoffwn eu gofyn, Dirprwy Weinidog, yw a wnewch chi ymuno â mi i ddiolch i'r bobl sy'n cadw'r llwybr hwnnw'n agored, o'r staff sy'n gweithio - rwyf wedi cwrdd â rhai ohonyn nhw; rwy'n siŵr bod pobl eraill wedi hefyd - ym mhob tywydd, i'r gwirfoddolwyr sy'n achub ar gyfleoedd hefyd i wneud yn siŵr ein bod ni'n gallu cerdded y llwybr hwn o hyd. Hefyd, hoffwn gydnabod - ac mae eraill wedi sôn am hyn heddiw - y manteision gwirioneddol a ddaw yn ei sgil i bobl, y lles i iechyd meddwl yn enwedig, o naill ai wirfoddoli mewn cyfleoedd gwaith i gadw'r llwybr hwnnw mewn cyflwr da, neu i ddianc i gefn gwlad er mwyn y pleser syml o wneud hynny a dianc rhag pwysau gwaith. Credaf fod hynny'n hanfodol bwysig ac, rwy'n falch o ddweud, yn cael ei gydnabod o'r diwedd.