Celtic rainforest restoration planned

A lost Celtic rainforest is set to be restored to its ancient glory, sited around standing stones and an abandoned, tumbling-down farmhouse with a waterwheel.

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) has revealed plans to improve habitats and recreate temperate rainforest at Trellwyn Fach near the Pembrokeshire coast.

Rainforests used to cover much of the west coast of Britain, though were destroyed over hundreds of years and only fragments remain.

Rainforest restoration forms part of a wider programme of nature-based projects funded by Aviva to remove carbon from the atmosphere and help wildlife recover.

Communities in Pembrokeshire will be closely involved in the project, with ambitions to provide volunteering, educational and employment opportunities, as well as improved access to nature.

Restoration

The project at Trellwyn Fach is part The Wildlife Trusts’ Atlantic rainforest recovery programme, made possible through thanks to share of £38 million donation from Aviva.

The Aviva funded programme will see temperate rainforests restored in areas where they used to grow along the damper, western climes of the British Isles.

The first place in Pembrokeshire is Trellwyn Fach. Other rainforest restoration projects have been announced in Devon, North Wales and the Isle of Man.

Sarah Kessell, Chief Executive at WTSWW said, “We’re delighted this rainforest restoration project at Trellwyn Fach can get started.

“This site is ideally situated in the Gwaun valley, already connected to Celtic rainforest remnants and giving us the opportunity to buffer and extend this amazing habitat as well as improving access for the local community. These are exciting times!”

“Climate ready”

Leah Ramoutar, Director of Environmental Sustainability, Aviva, said, “We’re proud to see the Wildlife Trust add another site to the rainforest restoration project, helping Wales become more climate ready.

“The site in Trellwyn Fach will connect with existing examples of this precious habitat, reestablishing natural corridors to benefit wildlife and add more natural beauty to this stunning part of Wales.

“It will also provide flood resilience to nearby homes and businesses as well as green jobs and volunteering opportunities to the local community.”

Trellwyn Fach is 146 acres, next to the village of Llanychaer, and just 2 miles from Fishguard.

The southern tip of the site connects with the Gwaun Valley woodland, itself a remnant Celtic rainforest.  The north end runs onto open moorland on Dinas mountain.

From the top of the site there are views of the Preseli Mountains.

There is little diversity on the majority of the land with nearly all fields being of semi-improved rye grassland that were grazed by sheep, but there are some wetter areas and some lovely, mature hedgerows of blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel, oak, gorse and holly.

Overall, the potential to improve habitats for wildlife is high.

WTSWW’s plans to improve the wildlife value of the new nature reserve will see low-intensity grazing of some areas and we will look to work with local graziers.

The Trust’s conservation team will monitor changes in biodiversity through habitat and species surveys including breeding bird surveys and butterfly transects.

Woodland

Around two-thirds of the site will become broadleaved woodland through planting and natural regeneration, to buffer the existing woodland and to support the wider connectivity of remnant Celtic rainforest in the landscape.

This woodland corridor leads in an arc through the Gwaun Valley, to Pengelli Forest (a WTSWW nature reserve) and our plans will contribute greatly to increasing the area of temperate rainforest in north Pembrokeshire.

This complements recent work undertaken by Cwm Arian’s ‘Growing Better Connections’ project which engaged with private landowners in the same area to plant up land and/or hedgerows to link woodland habitats in north Pembrokeshire.

A bridleway runs across the bottom part of the site, but there is scope to connect walking trails up to Dinas mountain to improve walking routes from Llanychaer.

There are excellent opportunities to involve local communities in the development and monitoring of this new nature reserve.