Brecon Conservation Update.
We managed to find a couple of good still days in January to continue work thinning out ash dieback diseased trees in Pwll y Wrach, Talgarth and other sites including Taff Fechan, (which is half in VC42 Brecknock). Some of the trees with diseased cores smelt really bad when they were cut others were just stained or dead and brittle. Many of the trees were sound at the bottom but dead at the top so branches are flinged in all directions as they fall.
Glasbury Cutting Nature Reserve path is currently blocked with fallen trees, and as it’s a less well used reserve it will take a little longer to get to so bear with us.
On the slopes of Darren Fawr there is some rare species rich calcareous grassland with rock rose, Carex montana and salad Burnet. Non-native cotoneaster is a garden escapee and spreads cloggingly to the slopes. We are using some of the #NatureNetworks Fund 2 (NNF) Resilient Grassland Project Funding to pay for a contractor to spend a few days cutting back the cotoneaster spreading over the grassland and in the gorse.
After researching and consulting with the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority Invasive species team we decided to try the method of cutting the cotoneaster and treating the stems to stop them re-growing. We have also tried the tree “poppers” which lever out this invasive type of cotoneaster without the use of herbicide. However, on steeper slopes it is too unbalancing to do, also this type of plant tends to snap.
The standard method for cotoneaster is foliar spray but we hope that by treating the stem we use a much smaller dose of herbicide. It can also be done in windy weather as long as there is a sufficiently long dry spell. This is better for the environment and the other ground flora and means we carry less up and down the hill. But we will have to wait a year to see if it is effective and then tailor our approach.
The Nature Networks Fund is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales on behalf of the Welsh Government and in partnership with Natural Resources Wales.
Stephanie Coates, WTSWW's Wildlife Trust Officer.
March 2024.
