19 November 2005
Cymraeg
Local people get muddy for a better environment
Radio Wales DJ Chris Needs hits Llandeilo to support Coed Tregib tree planting campaign
Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust) is inviting local people in and around Llandeilo to turn out in force on Saturday 19 November, to support the campaign to improve the local environment by creating new native woodland at Coed Tregib, just half a mile to the south-east of the town.
The Trust is inviting people to come and plant a tree at the site, at any time between 10am and 2pm. One of those coming along to do their bit will be the well-known radio DJ, Chris Needs, presenter of the late evening Chris Needs Garden programme on BBC Radio Wales. Chris have been encouraging his listeners to plant and dedicate trees at the site (1), and the trees in question will be grouped into a special BBC Radio Wales Grove.
Saturday’s public tree planting event is just part of the tree planting effort taking place at Coed Tregib this November. Around 400 children from nine local schools will planting trees at the site this week, whilst the Girlguiding Cymru will also be holding their own tree planting event.
Organised by Coed Cadw (the Woodland Trust), the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity, these tree planting events are part of Tree For All (2), the ambitious tree planting campaign which aims to plant a tree for every child in the UK over a five year period, 12 million in total, and to involve 1 million children in doing this.
The tree planting at Coed Tregib is part of the Woodland Trust’s campaign to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Battle of Trafalgar (3) by creating 33 new woods across the UK (4), one for each of the ships in Nelson’s fleet. In recognition of this, part of the new woodland at Coed Tregib will be designated at Spartiate Grove, named after the 33 gun HMS Spartiate, which was present at Trafalgar under the command of Capt Sir Francis Laforey.
Twelve hectares (32 acres) of new woodland is being created at the site, as an extension to Coed Tregib, one of Coed Cadw’s existing woods. Some planting took place in November 2004 and early 2005, with local children planting 4,000 native trees, mostly alder, willow, oak, ash and assorted shrubs. The planting will extend the existing Coed Tregib towards the town of Llandeilo, making it more accessible for local people and for the first time linking a new footpath access from the town and along the River Tywi. It will also create new habitat for wildlife, particularly otters, as the land concerned lies between the existing Coed Tregib and the River Tywi. The particular value of this land as a wildlife habitat is reflected in the fact that the existing Coed Tregib has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Kavita Heyn of Coed Cadw says: “After all the hard work that went into acquiring the site to make this tree planting possible, it’s great to be able to invite local people to come along, to share the muddy work, and to celebrate the success! I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who supported the campaign. We can be sure that, together, we’ve helped to create a better local environment in Llandeilo, both for wildlife and for people.”
Coed Cadw is very grateful to all the supporters who have made this project possible, particularly The David and Christopher Lewis Foundation, Carmarthen County Council, The Campaign for the Protection of Rural Wales, European Union Objective 1, Girl Guiding Cymru, the Carmarthen Journal and the Dyfed Army Cadets, who will be providing refreshments on the day.
Coed Cadw acquired the 12 hectare (32 acre) extension to Coed Tregib in 2004 following an energetic community campaign. The existing Coed Tregib has been in the Trust’s care since 1983. It is part of the largest area of woodland in South East Camarthenshire, and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park. The ancient woodland is made up of oak and ash woodland with hazel coppice together with wet woodland dominated by alder. The woodland is botanically diverse with over 100 species being present. Dormice have also been recorded. Like almost all Coed Cadw woods, Coed Tregib is open for anyone to visit at any time, for free. It now has its own website at: www.wt-woods.org.uk/coedtregib This includes a whole range of information about the site and its management, including an interactive map.
For media enquiries contact:
Rory Francis (Publicity and Public Affairs Officer for Wales) on 01766 832563 or 07760 171174
Afallon, Tanygrisiau, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Gwynedd LL41 3RH
Email roryfrancis@woodland-trust.org.uk
or Kavita Heyn on: 0117 927 2337
or The Woodland Trust Press Office on 01476 581121, e-mail media@woodland-trust.org.uk
Notes to editors:
1. More details of Radio Wales’ support for tree planting at Coed Tregib can be found at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/radiowales/generic/woodlandtrust.shtml
3. To find out more about Tree For All contact www.treeforall.org.uk
4. More details of the Trafalgar Woods project are available at: www.treeforall.org.uk/trafalgar
Coed Cadw (The Woodland Trust)
The Woodland Trust is the UK’s leading woodland conservation charity. It has 250,000 members and supporters. The Trust has four key aims: i) No further loss of ancient woodland; ii) Restoring and improving the biodiversity of woods; iii) Increasing new native woodland; iv) Increasing people’s awareness and enjoyment of woodland.
Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 20,000 hectares (50,000 acres). These include over 100 sites in Wales, with a total area of 1,580 hectares (3,900 acres). It offers free public access to nearly all of its sites. Further news can be accessed via www.woodland-trust.org.uk. The Trust adopted a new Welsh language name in 2000: “Coed Cadw”. This is an old Welsh term, used in medieval laws to describe protected or preserved woodland.
