Lost area of ​​Welsh rainforest to be restored to former glory | Trees & Forests

Trees and forests

Pembrokeshire site currently grazed by sheep to be planted with range of species, reconnecting with Celtic past

Mon 15 Jul 2024 05.00 BST

A lost piece of Celtic rainforest in the far south-west of Wales is to be restored to its former glory, centred around standing stones and a derelict, ruined farmhouse with a water wheel.

The 59-hectare (146-acre) site in Pembrokeshire will be planted with species including oak, small-leaved lime and wild service (A sip of steam) and should support an abundance of mosses, liverworts, lichens and ferns, while providing shelter for animals and other plants.

Its southern end will connect to the remains of Celtic rainforest in the Gwaun Valley while to the north it will extend over open moorland.

Adam Dawson, conservation officer at the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, said the Gwaun Valley was a very special part of Wales. “It has an ancient feel to it,” he said.

The new trees will be planted around two standing stones, so that the monuments will appear to be located in clearings that could have been created by prehistoric man.

Pontfaen Wood in the Gwaun Valley. Photography: Joan Gravell/Alamy

Dawson said: “It’s probably going to be reminiscent of Neolithic times, when our ancestors were first creating woodland clearings. It’s going back to what was happening before we got so smart and too sedentary, when we were still relatively nomadic.

“I think it was a time in history where we were very connected to the landscape and the seasons and our lives were very much dictated by those elements. We respected nature in a way that we’ve lost sight of.”

Currently the site, two miles from Fishguard, has little diversity, with almost all of the fields being semi-improved rye grassland grazed by sheep. The whole site will not be planted with rainforest species: the wetlands rich in flora and fauna will be left out.

Britain’s rainforests are found in areas with high rainfall and humidity and low annual temperature variations. They have been largely destroyed and now cover less than 1% of the land area.

Trellwyn Fach’s project is part of the Wildlife Trusts’ 100-year Atlantic Rainforest Restoration Programme, which is supported by a £38 million grant from insurance company Aviva.

Dawson said he hopes that within a few decades, the site will look like a natural forest. “The goal is that in 30 to 50 years, people walking through the site won’t be asking who planted this. People will be saying what a beautiful place.”