Lizzie Wilberforce and Rob Parry from the Wildlife Trust manage the Rhos Cefn Bryn Nature Reserve near Llannon, in part for the rare dormouse. Here these uncommon mammals are found in the thick hedgerows and woodland and are monitored annually by Jacqueline Hartley, an ecologist and reserve voluntary warden.

Now with funding from CCW via the Carmarthenshire Biodiversity Partnership the Wildlife Trust they would like to find out more about the presence of dormice in the landscape around the known population on the reserve Rhos Cefn Bryn and to establish how dormice are using and moving through the area. This will help further work to be undertaken to improve the local landscape for dormouse conservation and raise awareness of the dormouse in Carmarthenshire –its distribution, habitat needs and how to recognise when they are present.

Woodland blocks will be identified that are linked to the reserve and dormouse nestboxes installed. In the linking hedgerows nest tubes will placed to see how the dormice are using the hedge.

In addition work will be carried out through a landscape suitability assessment to assess the potential of the immediate landscape to support the movement of dormice. Rhos Cefn Bryn sits within an area of land of approx. 6.5km2 that is enclosed by roads of C-class or over (i.e. roads likely to present an obstacle to dormouse movement, with no arboreal connections). Aerial photographs of this block will be studied and woodland areas and hedgerow connections will be mapped. This will identify linkages to woodland blocks that could therefore be connected to known dormouse population(s), and equally importantly, where gaps in connectivity exist that could be improved upon.

A leaflet will be produced to inform people where in Carmarthenshire known dormouse populations exist (broad “key areas”), help people to recognise dormouse signs and provide brief guidance on how to manage woodlands and hedgerows for dormice.

Hopefully this will be the first phase of a project that will include further assessment of other woodland in the area working with local landowners and managers.