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Natur am Byth! is Wales’ flagship Green Recovery project to save vulnerable species from extinction.
The Natur am Byth! partnership is Wales’ flagship Green Recovery project. It unites nine environmental charities (of which Plantlife is one) with Natural Resources Wales (NRW). Together we will deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme to save species from extinction and reconnect people to nature.
Plantlife’s role within Natur am Byth! will provide a focus on some of our rarest vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and invertebrates across Wales.
Project officer: Robbie Blackhall-Miles
For the Tlysau Mynydd Eryri project we will be working in one of Britain’s richest mountain plant areas south of the Scottish Highlands.
Our rare plants here are threatened by:
Through the project we will work with volunteers, mountain guides, local plant nurseries, botanic gardens, land managers and experts. Together we will revive populations of rare montane plants and invertebrates. We will celebrate the species and the landscapes within which they are found, mapping a vision for their future.
Through the Tlysau Mynydd Eryri partnership project, the beautiful Rosy Saxifrage has been reintroduced to Wales, more than six decades after becoming extinct.
The Arctic alpine plant was last seen on cliff edges in the Eryri (Snowdonia) region in 1962. Now plants that have direct lineage to these specimens are blooming once again, close to where they were last recorded.Read more here.
Watch as Robbie reintroduces this plant back to the rolling hills of Cwm Idwal and learn more about the project and this special plant.
Tlysau Mynydd Eryri will also collect data about some of our scarcest species to inform habitat restoration at scale.
Did you know that on the high peaks of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and on the Glyderau there grows a forest that is little more than a foot high? A forest of Juniper nestled among the rocks in the crags and crevices.
A recent study undertaken in conjunction with Tlysau Mynydd Eryri and Bangor University used the fragmented records of trees that still exist on Eryri’s high peaks, historic literature, and evidence from peat cores, to piece together what the composition of this woodland may have been in Wales.
What the study found was a complex mosaic woodland made of:
Downy birch Betula pubescens, Alder Alnus glutinosa, Hazel Corylus avellana, Goat Willow Salix caprea, Grey Willow Salix cinerea, Rusty Willow Salix cinerea subsp. oleifolia, Creeping Willow Salix repens, Eared Willow Salix aurita, Aspen Populus tremula, Dwarf Willow Salix herbacea, Juniper Juniperus communis subsp. nana, Mountain Avens Dryas octopetala, Sweet Briar Rosa rubiginosa, Burnet Rose Rosa spinosissima, and Wild Raspberry Rubus idaeus.
The trees of Eryri are still under recorded and the records of trees in the high mountains are limited. Alpine Juniper Juniperus communis subsp. nana is the most recorded tree in the uplands of Wales due to some targeted survey work that took place in the 1990s. Discover more about these miniature forests in a blog by Robbie Blackhall-Miles here.
Project officer: Ellie Baggett
Through the Welsh Marches project we will be working in the rural county of Powys. Here we will be focussing on rare lichens and bryophytes of veteran trees, and dry rocky outcrops and hilltops.
Some of these species are actually adapted to the climate of the Mediterranean, and are near the northern limit of their global range in Wales. However, we know these communities are at risk from changes to their wider environment, to their local habitats, and from our land management systems.
We’ll be working with farmers and the local community, by raising awareness of these scarce species, and using practical conservation techniques. We will:
We will also be exploring systemic threats some of the species could face such as nitrogen pollution.
Looking out across the valley at Roundton Hill
Close up of a stunning Usnea lichen
Oak Polypore
Our work is just one part of the wider Natur am Byth! programme. All the partners will work together to secure the future of our full list of 67 target species. The choice of these 67 species represents the culmination of a major piece of work to establish our shared priorities.
These species have been chosen because they are facing the greatest threat of extinction, and are of particular importance to Wales. This was informed by the Environment (Wales) Act section 7 list, and through consultation with natural heritage experts across Wales and the UK.
We then mapped these species against important conservation themes, and identified the landscapes and coastal areas to target our heritage and engagement programme.
Image: Survey work in Eryri © Lizzie Wilberforce – Plantlife
We welcome hearing from anyone who would like to speak to us about the programme or help us to shape it. You can email the Plantlife Cymru team about the project on cymru@plantlife.org.uk
Work on the programme started in 2023, and will continue until the summer of 2027.
The partnership has budgeted total programme costs at £8m.
Thanks to players of the National Lottery, we have secured £4.1m delivery phase funding from National Lottery Heritage Fund.
NRW has contributed £1.7m and the Natur am Byth partners have secured a further £1.4m from Welsh Government, Arts Council of Wales and a number of charitable trusts, foundations, and corporate donors. These include donations from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, and significant support from Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposals Tax Communities Scheme administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA).
With thanks to the following funders:
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