Sites for key wetland habitats including ponds, wet woodland and marsh have been lost and are becoming increasingly isolated from each other due to the effects of inappropriate development, pollution and changes in agricultural or other land management practices.
The Agency is helping several local authorities in south east Wales identify and develop a series of ‘mini’ projects and supporting these through £30,000 collaborative funding, as well as providing advice and guidance to the project leads.
Work will take place at over 20 sites with help from community groups and other organisations including Pond Conservation and the South East Wales Biodiversity Records Centre (SEWBReC), and will be delivered this Autumn within the Valleys Regional Park and other areas.
The local authorities involved are Caerphilly, Merthyr Tydfil, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Vale of Glamorgan, Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Monmouthshire County Borough Council.
Environment Agency Wales’ lead officer Becky Davies said:
“Wetlands were once common to our landscape but we’ve now been left with small, fragmented ones. They’re a very important ecosystem, providing benefits such as improved water quality and carbon storage, aswell as being special places for local people to visit and enjoy. They also support a wealth of wildlife including birds, invertebrates, amphibians, reptiles and some of our rare species which can only be found in wetland habitats such as the great crested newt.
“By restoring these wetland sites lost and helping to link these habitats back together we are looking to create green corridors through which wildlife can move about and flourish. We will also be mapping these new habitats to learn more about how we can help species move about throughout south Wales.“
Although the projects are individually small-scale, together they will substantially improve wetlands within south east Wales. The landscape scale initiative will deliver around three hectares of new, and eight hectares of restored or improved wetland habitats and the gaps between currently fragmented habitats will be made smaller.
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