Conservation in Cardiff

1. Conservation in Cardiff By Ian Giblett

2. Who are CCV? • We are a diverse range of volunteers • Started in 1978 • Operate every Sunday • Also run conservation weekends • We love Tea and Biscuits!

3. Brief List of what we do • Manage Woodlands • Dry-Stone Walling • Fencing • Make and Maintain Footpaths • Dig and Clear Ponds • Lay dead and living hedges

4. Coppicing and Scrub Removal

5. Coppicing • Chopping a tree down can be good for its health!! • Traditionally coppicing was done for a theoretically infinite supply of fuel • With this technique a tree could live for a very long time! • Many reasons why conservations clear trees

6. Reasons for Coppicing • Encourages Growth • Provides a different type of Habitat • Trees will grow in long straight poles

7. Flowers Common in Coppiced Woodland This Butterfly is called the Duke of Burgundy When more light is let into a wood…. …lots of flowers begin to grow….. ….which attracts butterflies….. ….Insects and Birds!

8. Birds in a Coppiced wood This is a Willow Warbler. He looks for older coppiced woodland This is a Chiff Chaff. He prefers recently coppiced woodland

9. Scrub Clearance Scrub is a collective term for Brambles and small trees. • Butterflies Love Scrub • Some prefer young growth, other species like old scrub and the rest like something in the middle.

10. Clearance on Sand Dunes …without attention it would turn to woodland. This sand dune has become clogged with grass…. • Sand Dunes are fairly rare ecosystems in the UK • Easily Choked with Grass, Sea Buckthorn and other invasive species Rabbits don’t like long grass…. …so after we cut the grass, they will keep it short.

11. Deadwood for Mushrooms This is Velvet Shank. Easy to spot because it comes out at Winter This is a Puff Ball • Fungus thrive on dead wood and plants • Mushrooms have been and still are a source of mystery to humans • The biggest living organism on the planet is a fungus! This is a shaggy ink cap. It used to be boiled down to make ink. This is yellow Brain Fungus!

12. Habitat Piles • Are big piles of wood • Make a wonderful home to many plants and animals

13. Walls, Fences and Hedges

14. Dry Stone Walling • Outlasts any other type of boundary • Offers Shelter to live stock • Houses lichens, plants and small animals • Aesthetically pleasing • Prevents land erosion

15. Fencing • Keeps Things In • Cheaper and quicker to make than a wall • Keeps Things Out

16. Hedge Laying First you get a line of trees… The finished product! • Can only be done before Spring • Involves laying trees down to create a thick hedge • A hedge has many benefits …and you weave them in to the next part of the hedge! …then you split the trunk….

17. Why Lay a Hedge? • Offers protection to vast amounts of wildlife: Dormice, Rabbits, insects etc. • Immune to vandalism • Provide shelter for livestock and crops

18. Dormice • Can build nests up to 5 meters off the floor • Will hibernate for up to 6 months of the year • Are extinct in many counties around Britain and are a protected species

19. Footpaths and Steps

20. Foot Paths • Allows safe passage • Minimises Erosion

21. Ponds and Aquatic Life

22. Ponds • Provide habitats for many plants and animals • Natural ponds are not stationary! • After a while the water will choke up with dead matter and the water will go somewhere else. • As it’s not practical for ponds to go some where else we clean them out by hand.

23. Areas on Conservation around Cardiff Worth seeing

24. Cefn mably Where can you see all this around Cardiff? Cwm Nofydd The Garth Cath Cobb Wood Coryton Roundabout! Coed Yr Felin Wood Forest Farm Howardian Nature Reserve Grangemoor Park Lavernock Point

25. Summary • The main aims of Conservation are: a) To Encourage Biodiversity. b) Preserve what habitats we already have. c) Minimise the impact of humans in areas of natural beauty. d) To work with nature, not against it.

26. Any Questions? Thanks for Listening!