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Penclacwydd Canoe Safari Water Vole Project

The Environment Agency Wales Biodiversity team has recently completed a collaborative project with the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at Penclacwydd, Llanelli. The project involved the excavation of new sections of channel in an existing wetland area in order to improve water vole habitat whilst at the same time creating a circular route for Canadian Canoe trips.

Water voles have been recorded on this area of wetland, but the habitat was not ideal as there were very few banks available in which the voles could create their burrows. By excavating deeper channels and creating new exposed banks, this project resulted in enhanced water vole habitat whilst also opening up previously inaccessible areas of the wetlands to visitors. Two sections of open water were created providing a total length of 260m of new channel.

The 'Canoe Safari' trips opened in August, and enable visitors to explore the wetlands and their associated wildlife in a completely different way. The site supports a range of wildlife, including wildfowl, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, Water Vole, dragonflies and damselflies. Interpretation materials for visitors have also been provided as part of a wider WWT project.

EAW made a financial contribution towards this project, as well as providing technical advice on the design of the new channels and creating suitable conditions for water voles.

Llanelli supports one of the last remaining viable water vole populations in Wales, and is now a Key Area for water voles. As the lead partner for the UK Biodiversity Action Plan for water voles, the EAW is keen to support any opportunity to enhance their available habitat.

Giant Hogweed

Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) is an invasive alien species which was introduced into Britain from Russia in 1893. Giant Hogweed can grow to heights of 5m, and forms dense colonies which out–compete native plant species. The large white flowers of each plant can produce up to 50,000 seeds, and these can remain viable for up to 15 years. The stems and undersides of leaves bear small hairs containing poisonous sap which can cause severe skin irritation and blistering.

Over the summer Environment Agency Wales received reports of Giant Hogweed in the Manordeilo area. If left uncontrolled, it may spread rapidly along verges, field boundaries and river banks and cause serious damage to local biodiversity. EAW staff visited the site in Manordeilo in July, and has implemented an ongoing spraying regime to eradicate Hogweed from the area.

Welsh wooden route gets fish on their way

The Environment Agency Wales has just completed an innovative fish pass project on the River Bran at Cynghordy near Llandovery, which is, unusually, made of wood.

Generally, galvanised steel and reinforced concrete have been used to construct fish passes, but the energy and carbon cost of using such materials is very high. So, as an alternative, this entire pass was constructed of sustainably harvested Welsh oak.

The bridge sill at Pont Wen has restricted fish passage since its emergency construction in 1993 when the bridge was lost due to floods. Fish have found it difficult to swim past the structure and access the prime spawning and nursery areas upstream.

As a result the 36 km of prime nursery stream may have been under utilised for the past fifteen years. Improvements in fish passage ensures full access to the upper reaches of the Bran and helps safeguard salmon, sea trout, brown trout, eels and important conservation species like sea lamprey populations of the river Tywi.