Welsh wildlife charity wins battle over government body’s ‘environmental failures’

Stephen Price

After a two-year battle with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) a wildlife charity has forced Wales’ statutory environmental body to use their own legal powers to safeguard one of south Wales’ most important grassland habitats.

The Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which cannot be named for legal reasons, was once described as one of the most significant wildlife sites in Rhondda Cynon Taf.

According to The Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru (INCC), the location had an ecologically important array of rare habitats, including marshy grassland, species-rich neutral grassland and wet heath which used to cover 25 hectares of the site. 

These habitats were home to some of our rarest species, including the beautiful Marsh Fritillary, a butterfly which is endangered in Europe. This butterfly’s population in the area was once thought to be one of the most important remaining in Wales.

However, since the site was designated as a SSSI some 18 years ago, it has been left unmanaged, resulting in the loss of important grassland habitat, and with it the rare and specialist wildlife that relied on it. It is believed that the Marsh Fritillary butterfly became extinct at the site in around 2014.

Letter

In a letter to INCC dated 25 October 2022, NRW acknowledged that the site in question is not in suitable condition and requires appropriate habitat management works.

Furthermore, NRW also acknowledged that they had yet to enter into a management agreement with the landowner which would have established a regime of suitable habitat management works to be undertaken.

Although the site continues to decline, there is hope, according to INCC. Due to the pressure exerted on NRW by INCC, and their solicitors Leigh Day, formal action has now been finally instigated by NRW to use their own statutory powers to restore the species-rich grassland habitat within the site.

Chief Executive of INCC, Rob Parry said, “Its great news to finally see the SSSI being managed in a way that it was designated for all those years ago.

“Hopefully this case shows the importance of INCC’s work and holding environmental decision makers to account. NRW’s purpose is to ensure that the environment and natural resources of Wales are sustainably maintained and used, now and in the future.

“Although this good news for wildlife, it shouldn’t have taken NRW, and its predecessor, the Countryside Council for Wales, eighteen years to act.”

Refuges

According to NRW in their letter to INCC, a key reason for taking action to ensure suitable management was due to INCC’s recent Marsh Fritillary butterfly reintroduction.

A spokesperson for NRW said “We acknowledge, that given the recent re-introduction of the Marsh Fritillary butterfly at Llantrisant Common SSSI by INCC, the matter of ensuring that there is as much suitable habitat in the wider landscape available for this species is more important than ever”.

Rob Parry concluded, however: ” “There are so many other sites like this in Wales. Our most important refuges for wildlife are being neglected by NRW, the one government body that wildlife should be able to rely on to be on their side”.