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The Carbon Community is delighted to have received a grant from the Welsh Government’s National Forest for Wales Landscape Pilot 2024/2025, administered by WCVA via Carmarthenshire Nature Partnership, to help woodland, hedgerow trees and grassland flourish side by side at Glandwr Forest.
Glandwr Forest is an award-winning forest recognised by three awards at the Royal Welsh Show Woodlands Competition in 2024. When the new woodland areas were created in 2021 they were carefully designed to fit into the landscape with areas such as species-rich acid grassland and rhos pasture left unplanted. Connecting these habitats are field boundary hedgerows of beautiful mature and veteran trees that provide habitat for birds, invertebrates, lichens, and flowers for pollinating insects in the spring.
The ‘Connected Trees and Woodlands’ project aims to:
· connect hedgerow trees across Glandwr Forest with woodland areas, providing foraging corridors for birds and bats and protecting these corridors for natural regeneration;
· create new areas for conservation grazing, including stock fencing and water supplies, to better manage areas of rhos pasture and species-rich grasslands;
· contribute to improved access on public paths and bridleways and new opportunities for volunteering and skill development
The idea for the ‘Connected Trees and Woodlands’ project has been growing over time. Thank you to Conservation & Trees, Carmarthenshire Meadows Group and the many experts and enthusiasts who have joined our meadow walks. A big thank you to Plantlife who provided advice as part of the Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn Resilient Grasslands project last summer. Together with our Forestry Partner, we discussed the potential for conservation grazing and the need to protect hedgerows and natural regeneration.
“This project has been a dream for the last few years and is a huge leap forward for The Carbon Community to better connect and manage the mosaic of habitat across Glandwr Forest.” Heather Allen, Trustee
As part of gaining a better understanding of our grasslands, the grant will support eDNA sampling to establish a baseline measurement of fungal activity in these areas which is in keeping with the research-based approach of the field-trials at Glandwr Forest. The soil cores for this analysis will be collected with a few of our wonderful volunteers and a commitment of this project is to continue to ensure a variety of volunteer opportunities for our community.
This has included our first hedge-laying event held in January where volunteers had the opportunity to learn Brecon-style hedge laying from a local expert. This was a popular activity which we will plan to revisit later in the year!
Sign-up to find out about volunteering opportunities.
More about Glandwr Forest at the Royal Welsh Show Woodlands Competition 2024.
