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The good, the bad and the ugly
How have wild flowers fared in Wales in 2010?
November 08 2010
Plantlife Cymru have revealed a mixed result for wild plants in Wales in 2010.
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Meadow clary, pictured above, has now become extinct in Wales. © Andrew Gagg / Plantlife
It’s good news as more rare cornflowers have appeared in south Wales, but bad news for the beautiful meadow clary now extinct after disappearing from its last known Welsh site. Meanwhile, damage to protected sites rears its ugly face as more trees for rare lichens are felled with no chance of restoration.
The good …
It’s been a good year for the much-loved but very rare cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) which has reappeared at three arable sites in south Wales, quadrupling the number of known cornflower sites in Wales. The Tir Gofal agri-environment scheme encourages farmers to undertake a range of wildlife-friendly management, including ploughing up some pasture land to allow long-buried seed to germinate. At one site, cornflower seed buried for 13 years germinated. Plantlife Cymru hopes that greater uptake and improved targeting of good management prescriptions in the new Glastir scheme will help the cornflower to continue its recovery in Wales.
The bad …
It’s been a bad year for the beautiful meadow clary (Salvia pratensis) which has been lost from its last site in Wales. A small Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Monmouthshire provided a last haven for meadow clary and other grassland species including cowslip and greater knapweed. A detailed management plan for the site was not followed and the last plant has been lost. However, Plantlife has taken seed from this last remaining plant, and seedlings are growing at Treborth Botanic Garden in Bangor. Once good management is secured for the site, plants will be reintroduced and meadow clary will hopefully flower once more in Wales.
And the ugly …
Coed Llechwedd SSSI is part of the Merionnydd Oakwoods Important Plant Area, an internationally important site for its rare and threatened lichens and a Special Area of Conservation for its lichens and bats. An area of the woodland was cleared by the landowner in 2006 or 2007, with the clearance only spotted more recently through images seen on Google Earth. As the owners wereunaware that the land was legally protected, no formal proceedings can be undertaken, but Plantlife is calling for the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) to undertake an audit of protected sites to ensure that owners are aware of their responsibilities.
Plantlife would like to see the site restored to oak woodland, as the trees will then provide habitats for the lichens, sites for bat to roost, and help control invasive Japanese knotweed which is now present but which does not grow in shaded woodland. Instead, CCW has proposed converting it to open grassland.
"It’s really important that we focus on getting the plants right, because then all the other wildlife will thrive."
Dr Trevor Dines, Plantlife’s Cymru’s Conservation Manager
“Plants and fungi are the fundamental building blocks of all our habitats, providing food and shelter for all the other wildlife we cherish,” says Dr Trevor Dines, Plantlife’s Cymru’s Conservation Manager.
“It’s really important that we focus on getting the plants right, because then all the other wildlife will thrive – the bats, the insects they feed on, and the wealth of lichens and the fungi that live in woods.”
Plantlife is recommending that all other organisations involved in land management and conservation need to ‘plant proof’ their work in this way, to ensure that plants are at the heart of efforts to keep our countryside rich and diverse in colour and wildlife.
For more information and images, please contact:
Trevor DinesPlantlife Cymru Conservation Manager T 01248 670691 / Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Sue Nottingham / Sarah Unitt Press Office T 01722 342757/342739 / Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)