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Plantlife Cymru have restored and improved the condition of 11 sand dune locations in Wales as part of the Dynamic Dunescapes project.
Discover more about sand dunes and the work that has been done to protect them in Wales.
Sand dunes are wild, dynamic landscapes. They are homes for wildlife, where carpets of orchids survive alongside songbirds, butterflies and an array of endangered insects. As a society we have forgotten the mystery of sand dunes.
They are more than just sand and less well-known is their role as a sanctuary for endangered plants and animals, like the Fen Orchid and sand lizard. Sand dunes in the UK look very different today than they did even just 100 years ago.
They are now missing the open sandy features which are homes for rare and special creatures, because bare sand has been replaced with dense vegetation and scrub. This is why our work to restore dunes is so vital.
Tywyn Fferam in North Wales / Dynamic Dunescapes
If you would like to visit a sand dune, why not visit one of the sites we have protected?
Dynamic Dunescapes also collaborated closely with Plantlife project Green Links Bridgend at Kenfig National Nature Reserve.
In addition to our work in Wales we have undertaken conservation management work in Braunton Burrows – Devon, working closely with National Trust, Christie Estates and the MOD.
Our coastal sand dunes are under threat. In fact, they are listed as one of the most at risk habitats in Europe for biodiversity loss.
Since 1900, the UK’s sand dunes have declined by a third, and almost two-thirds in Wales.
One of the key problems is that many dunes are becoming more densely covered by vegetation and scrub and there is less bare open sand.
A lack of bare mobile sand is having negative impacts on many rare dune-specialised species that need areas of open sand to thrive. Healthy sand dunes need to move and be dynamic.
Marram grass on the dunes (Dynamic Dunescapes – Ian J Lee Photography)
Citizen Science training survey skills training day with Swansea University Sustainability team (Credit: Dynamic Dunescapes)
Our work with Dynamic Dunescapes was a partnership funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the European LIFE fund and:
Plantlife’s work with local communities to explore and learn about dunes in both Wales and Devon with Dynamic Dunescapes ran from 2020-2023.
We have also:
Many plants are special to Wales. Some of them are vulnerable and could even become extinct. It is these gems which Plantlife Cymru is working to save as part of the Natur am Byth! flagship project. This larger project unites nine environmental charities (of which Plantlife Cymru is one) with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to deliver the country’s largest natural heritage and outreach programme to save species from extinction and reconnect people to nature. We are running two projects within the Natur am Byth project.
Tlysau Mynydd Eryri/Eryri’s Mountain Jewels
In this project we are working in one of the richest areas for mountain plants in Britain south of the Scottish Highlands. Project Officer Robbie Blackhall-Miles is working to save 14 species, which include montane flowering plants and ferns, a tree and an insect, from extinction in Wales.
• Persicaria vivipara• Alpine Mouse-ear – Cerastium alpinum – Clust-y-llygoden Alpaidd• Alpine Saw-wort – Saussurea alpina – Lliflys y mynydd• Alpine Woodsia – Woodsia alpina – Rhedynen-woodsia Alpaidd• Pisidium coventus• Holly Fern – Polystichum lonchitis – Rhedynen Gelyn• Irish Saxifrage – Saxifraga rosacea – Tormaen Iwerddon• Mountain Avens – Dryas octopetala – Derig• Oblong woodsia – Woodsia silvensis – Rhedynen-woodsia Hirgul• Snowdon Hawkweed – Hieracium snowdoniense – Heboglys yr Wyddfa• Tufted Saxifrage – Saxifraga cespitosa – Tormaen Siobynnog• Common Juniper – Juniperus communis – Merywen• Snowdon Beetle – Chrysolina cerealis – Chwilen yr Wyddfa
A team effort
In the Tlysau Mynydd Eryri project Robbie Blackhall-Miles is working with volunteers, mountain guides, local plant nurseries, land managers and botanical experts. Together they are painstakingly turning around the fortunes of these rare mountain species and setting them on the road to recovery. Along the way they are celebrating these beautiful mountain jewels and the landscapes they live in.
The challenges
The selected species are rare because they have, and continue to, face many challenges. Tourists in the Victorian era indulged in the fashion of collecting ferns and montane plants which reduced their numbers substantially. More recently farming practice and the way the land is used has changed out of all recognition. Today air-borne pollution, in particular nitrogen, together with climate change are making life very difficult for these clean air and cold loving plants.
This project is saving very rare lichens and bryophytes living on veteran trees and dry rocky outcrops and hilltops in an area stretching from near Presteigne, Radnorshire to Gregynog near Newtown. Project officer Ellie Baggett is working to revive populations of 15 species which include some of our rarest lichens, mosses and 3 insect species.
• Scarce Cardinal Beetle – Schizotus pectinicornis – Chwilen ysgarlad,• a Firedot lichen – Caloplaca lucifuga• Circumspect Dotted Lichen – Scutula circumspecta• Prysgwydden y Coed – Anaptychia ciliaris ciliaris – Eagle’s Claw• Geranium Firedot Lichen – Caloplaca herbidella• Lecanographa amylacea – a lichen• Buellia violaceofusca – a lichen• Sap-groove Lichen – Bellicidia incompta• Horsehair lichen – Bryoria fuscescens• Black Crystalwort – Riccia nigrella – Grisial-lys Du• Dog Screw-moss – Tortula canescens – Mwsogl troellog• Upright Apple-moss – Bartramia aprica – Afal-fwsogl• Oak Polypore – Buglossoporus quercinus -Ysgwydd y Derw• Wasp-banded Comb-horn Cranefly – Ctenophora flaveolata – Pryf Teiliwr• a false darkling beetle – Hypulus quercinus – Chwilen saprosylig
Working with farmers
In the Welsh Marches Ellie Baggett is working with farmers and local communities to develop and put into action various practical techniques. These include clearing scrub – bushes, bracken and rank grass – so that the light loving lichens can thrive. She is also encouraging farmers to care for their veteran trees so that the lichen and moss which depend on them survive. By planting trees in the right places, Ellie hopes in years to come they will become veteran trees and provide habitats for these lichens.
Several factors mean the selected rare lichen, moss and insect species are in danger of extinction. Some of them are actually adapted to the climate of the Mediterranean, and are near the northern limit of their global range in Wales. In some places there’s too much growth from adjacent vegetation which stops sunlight from reaching the specific lichen or moss. Elsewhere it is the veteran trees which provide the lichen or moss species with homes, which are themselves at risk of falling in storms. Another threat comes from the air, since many of the lichen species are sensitive to nitrogen pollution.
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 crags of Cwm Idwal and learn more about the project and this special plant.
Our work is just one part of the wider Natur am Byth! programme. The 67 target species were chosen as a result of culmination of a major piece of work to establish those that 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.
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:
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.
Wales is crammed with a multitude of vibrant habitats full of wild plants and fungi. Sadly, many of these are becoming endangered. Plantlife Cymru has a growing team of knowledgeable and dedicated staff working to safeguard them.
Yes, we have rainforests in Wales! These temperate rainforests make up one of our most special and rare habitats. They grow hardly anywhere else on the planet.
A diversity of lichens, mosses and liverworts thrive in our ancient oak woodlands because of Wales’ mild and damp climate. But they are at risk. Plantlife Cymru is working as part of the Alliance for Wales’ Rainforests to ensure they have a long and healthy future.
Read more.
Our mission is simply to ‘grow’ the area of semi-natural grasslands in Wales. These colourful meadows brimming with life now only cover 9% of the land of Wales. This is a sad remnant of the extensive meadows which occupied 90% more land 50 years ago.
They are so good for wildlife, livestock, reducing flooding and storing carbon. In the Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn (resilient grasslands) project we’re working with farmers, agricultural organisations and colleges. We’re raising awareness and encouraging them to take action to create more species-rich grasslands.
Our cry is Natur am Byth! – nature forever, as we work to save species which are particularly special to Wales but face the greatest threat of extinction. Plantlife Cymru is focusing on saving exquisite montane flowers and ferns in Eryri, and delicate lichens and mosses of veteran trees and rocky hilltops along the marches and in Mid Wales.In this flagship project we are working alongside eight other conservation organisations and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) to save a broad range of species.
Some of our plants in Wales are threatened by extinction, but here are 3 species that are being brought back from the brink of extinction.
Robbie Blackhall-Miles shares story of how a tiny mountain plant’s name has evolved over the years, and it's fascinating history in Wales.
Ever wondered how biodiverse meadows are made? Plantlife volunteers Andrew and Helen tell us about their own meadow story in Carmarthenshire.
Download and read our Welsh Language Policy 2021 and Welsh Language Scheme 2023
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Agricultural grasslands dominate Wales’ rural landscape. Finding ways to restore species-rich habitats to farms is a priority for Plantlife Cymru.
Many of our upland and lowland landscapes in Wales are dominated by green fields. In fact, 83% of our farmed landscape is managed as permanent grassland or for rough grazing. Our future agri-environment schemes will be a vital part of paving the way to restoring these landscapes. As a result, Plantlife have been working hard on our response to the Welsh Agricultural Bill and the Sustainable Farming Scheme Proposals for 2025.
Permanent grasslands (those not regularly ploughed or reseeded) are often overlooked in climate change mitigation. However, they are a key nature-based solution to the challenges we face. One reason they get so overlooked is a lack of collective knowledge about grassland soil carbon. They are also side-lined by an emphasis on tree planting and peatland restoration in policy. Effective management of permanent grassland is at the heart of Wales’ livestock production and the wider farming economy. We need it to be at the heart of addressing the climate and biodiversity crisis as well.
Grasslands are incredible habitats, which can sequester and store carbon, and improve biodiversity. They provide natural flood defences, enhance our health and wellbeing, lock up pollutants. Importantly, they also sustain an irreplaceable part of Wales’ cultural heritage.
At Plantlife, we would like to see greater recognition for the multiple benefits these grasslands can provide. We are asking Government to support farmers and land managers to adapt their farming practices. Also, for the government to assist farms to restore and maintain species-rich grassland. Unfortunately, in the past, grassland restoration has seen lower payment rates compared to, for example, the support for arable farms. The new scheme needs to be economically viable for all farmers to enter. It will be important that there is good advice for farmers and land managers to access, apply and manage these schemes.
The view across Cae Blaen-dyffryn nature reserve, and the surrounding landscape. © Chris Harris – Plantlife
As well as putting pressure on Welsh Government to do the best it can for our farmed environment, we are also working towards restoring agricultural grasslands ourselves.
Hywel Morgan has recently joined the Plantlife Cymru team as our Agricultural Advisor. He will be working in the landscape around our Cae Blaen-dyffryn nature reserve, near Lampeter. He is speaking to local farmers and seeking to understand where the most mutually beneficial and sustainable actions for grassland conservation lie.
We hope that over time, we can work a lot more with this farming community. Plantlife will be seeking funds for the grassland restoration based on opportunities we identify. Hywel’s brings personal knowledge of farming and will gain local insight from speaking to the farming community. This will help us to advocate for grassland restoration solutions that have the best chance of success.
Hywel Morgan is Agricultural Advisor (Wales) at Plantlife Cymru
Stay tuned to our blog and sign up to our newsletter; Hywel might share his insight what he learnt from talking to the local farming community.
You can contact the Wales team about our work with Welsh agriculture
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