habitat management Archives

Tag Archives: habitat management

high brown fritillary species in focus pont cymru

Species in Focus; High Brown Fritillary

The high brown fritillary is a large, brown and black patterned butterfly, with distinctive brown markings under the wings. The favoured habitat of this butterfly is woodland, scrubby grassland, limestone pavement or common land which has a matrix of bracken and violets. The butterflies lay their eggs on bracken but also

Highland cattle grazing coal spoil at Bryn Tip

The Importance of Colliery Spoil

Did you know that the remnants of our industrial heritage in Wales are of great value to wildlife? Have a read of this new report by Liam Olds (Colliery Spoil Biodiversity Initiative) on the importance of colliery spoil habitats for invertebrates. It’s a very enlightening report and the results will perhaps

Seren the welsh mountain sheep PONT Cymru grazer of the week

Grazer of the Week 12th April; Seren the Welsh Mountain Sheep

Our youngest Grazer of the Week so far is Seren the Welsh Mountain Sheep. Seren grazes in the beautiful Elan Valley. The 70 square miles of the Elan Valley includes moorland, rhos pasture, bog, woodland, wildflower meadows and reservoir. The area is of national importance for wildlife and incorporates 12 separate

Pony grazing canary grass pont cymru why are ponies good at conservation grazing

What makes ponies good at conservation grazing?

Here in Wales we are lucky to have native breeds of hardy Welsh ponies. A common sight when driving through the remote mountain roads of Wales are small herds of shaggy ponies, making a living in these harsh environments. A good example of these are the Carneddau ponies, who inhabit the

Ponies Cwm Colhuw PONT Cymru Vaughn Matthews (2)

Grazer of the Week 22nd March; Bronwen the Welsh Pony

This is Bronwen, a Welsh Pony who grazes the coastal meadows at Cwm Colhuw in the Vale of Glamorgan. Cwm Colhuw is managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. A postcard of the Colhuw valley taken in the 1930s shows the reserve was open grazed pasture with small

Overton Mere Grazing

Overton Mere, managed by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, is an important site for calcareous grassland plants. Grazing ceased on this site many years ago and as a result, gorse scrub has slowly been encroaching on the grassland. PONT Cymru has been working with the Wildlife Trust and