The Assembly Government is to lead a £17.4m boost for the tourism industry in Wales. The cash will  fund a series of projects over the next four years, including piloting new ideas that could benefit the industry; providing high-quality web content that tourism businesses can use to support their online activities; and creating an online environment for sharing ideas and best practice. It will be funded by £9.2m from the European Regional Development Fund, £4.5m from the Welsh Assembly Government and £3.7m from the private sector.

A £2.55m investment designed to stimulate the Mid Wales economy is underway with the development of two business parks in Welshpool and Abermule. The Offa’s Dyke business park, near Welshpool, is set to double in size with the addition of 19 new business units, while a new seven-acre business park at Abermule, between Newtown and Welshpool, will have the capacity to accommodate seven business units. The projects form part of the Severn Valley investment package announced last year which is backed by more than £3.3m from the Competitiveness European Regional Development Fund and almost £2m from the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Welsh Assembly Government has appointed Professor John Harries as its first chief scientific adviser. Harries will provide scientific advice to the government and promote science, technology, engineering and maths. He is currently the professor of earth observation at Imperial College London. The appointment, effective from 1 May, follows a review into the creation of the role carried out by Professor Christopher Pollock two years ago.

Morgan Parry, a founder member of not-for-profit sustainable development organisation Cynnal Cymru, has been named as the new chairman of the Countryside Council for Wales. He succeeds John Lloyd Jones who retires from the role on 28 February. Parry is a member of the government’s Climate Change Commission for Wales and was the head of WWF Cymru, the Wales office of the international environment organisation, until last year. He has also worked for Snowdonia National Park Authority and the North Wales Wildlife Trust.

The Welsh Association of National Park Authorities, a partnership between Brecon Beacons, Pembrokeshire Coast and Snowdonia, has appointed four new members. Following an open selection process, Jane Davidson, the minister for environment, sustainability and housing, has appointed Margaret Jones and John Morgan to the Snowdonia National Park Authority, and Gwyneth Hayward and Anthony Edward to the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority. Davidson said: “They will continue to play a key role in helping the Welsh Assembly Government to deliver the many and varied challenges set out in One Wales.”