Gwent Wildlife Trust Explained

Gwent Wildlife Trust (Welsh: Ymddiriedolaeth Natur Gwent) (GWT) is a wildlife trust covering the area between the lower Wye and Rhymney rivers which forms the vice county of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is a registered charity and a member of the Wildlife Trusts Partnership.

History

Its origins lie in the Monmouthshire Naturalists Trust, formed in 1963. In the 1980s the Trust was renamed the Gwent Trust for Nature Conservation, and then Gwent Wildlife Trust. Gwent was an administrative county between 1974 and 1996, covering a similar but not identical area to the historic county of Monmouthshire.

The Trust's first objective, under the then presidency of FitzRoy Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan, was the conservation of Magor Marsh, the last remaining area of fenland on the Caldicot Level. It was particularly responsible for survey work, training programmes, and increasingly in educational projects and in campaigns against inappropriate development proposals, particularly those affecting the Severn estuary.^[1] In 1991 it purchased Pentwyn Farm at Penallt, a unique smallholding, including ancient meadows and a collapsing medieval barn, having raised the purchase price of £150,000 within six weeks through a public appeal. In 2001 it bought Springdale Farm near Usk, containing of species-rich unimproved grassland, of other grassland, and an ancient wood. It now manages 32 reserves, and has a membership of some 7,500.^[1]

Current activities and responsibilities

The Trust currently manages over of wildlife rich habitat including working farms, woodlands and marshes. Projects such as wild flower meadow restoration take place on the reserves. Its projects also involve reviving traditional countryside skills such as charcoal production and dry stone walling.^[2]

The Trust currently designates four "Premier Reserves":

• Magor Marsh (Welsh: Cors Magwyr). This is a wetland reserve with a rich variety of habitats, including damp hay meadows, sedge fen, reedbed, scrub, wet woodland, a large pond and numerous reens. It includes breeding grounds for common snipe, common redshank, reed warbler, grasshopper warbler and Cetti's warbler. It is the richest site in Wales for wetland beetles and soldier-flies.^[3] It is the last remnant of fenland on the Caldicot and Wentloog Levels,^[1] and its pattern of drainage ditches and other features has remained unchanged since the 14th century.^{[4] [5]}
• Pentwyn Farm. This covers high above the Wye valley, with traditional farm buildings, small fields and stone walls. It contains one of the largest areas of unimproved grassland in the area, and provides a habitat for dormice, adders-tongue fern, and many other species.^[3]
• Silent Valley Nature Reserve. This covers, including Britain's highest area of beech woodland, together with wet woodland and flushes. The reserve is managed in partnership with Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council.^[3]
• Springdale Farm. This covers of working farmland, notable for its hay meadows and woodland flowers.^[3]

Full list of reserves

• Allt-yr-yn, Newport
• Branches Fork Meadow, Pontypool
• Brockwells Meadow, Caerwent
• Caldicot Pill, Caldicot
  • Coed Meyric Moel, Cwmbran Croes Robert Wood SSSI, Trellech
• Dan Y Graig, Risca
• Dixton Embankment, Monmouth
• Drybridge Community Nature Park, Monmouth
• Graig Wood, Trellech
• Henllys Bog, Cwmbran
• Kitty's Orchard, Usk
• Margarets Wood, Whitebrook
• Lower Minnetts Field, Rogiet
  • Magor Marsh SSSI, Magor Margaret's Wood, Whitebrook
• New Grove Meadows, Trellech
  • Pentwyn Farm SSSI, Penallt Peterstone Wentlooge Marshes SSSI, Peterstone
  • Priory Wood SSSI, Bettws Newydd Prisk Wood SSSI, Penallt
• Rogiet Poorland, Rogiet
• Silent Valley SSSI, Cwm
• Solutia Reserve at Great Traston Meadows, Nash
• Springdale Farm, Llangwm
• Strawberry Cottage Wood, Llanvihangel Crucorney
• The Wern, Monmouth
• Wyeswood Common, Trellech

External links

• Gwent Wildlife Trust

Notes and References

1. Web site: Gwent Wildlife Trust. The Wildlife trust. 11 December 2009.
2. Web site: Gwent Wildlife Trust. The Big Give. 11 December 2009.
3. A guide to the nature reserves of the Gwent Wildlife Trust, leaflet, 2009
4. Web site: Magor Marshes – a summary of ecological information. Severnside Area Forum. 11 December 2009.
5. Web site: Magor Marsh . 8 March 2008. South East Wales. BBC. 11 December 2009.