#naturalresourceswales — Public Fediverse posts

PEATLANDS: Almost £2m from the Lottery to bring the bogs back above the Afan and Neath valleys

The uplands between the Afan, Neath, Cynon and Rhondda valleys are in line for three years of restoration work, new footpaths and free outdoor activities after a second National Lottery award of almost £2m.

Lost Peatlands Connections will work across 16 sites covering almost 870 hectares, re-wetting bogs and restoring heath, grassland and woodland on the plateau that commercial forestry and wind turbines now dominate.

For walkers, the headline is five new routes with interpretation along the way, plus an explorer app, virtual reality experiences and a podcast series to open up a landscape most people only see from the valley floor.

For residents, the programme promises volunteering days, outdoor learning for schools, wellbeing activities, heritage skills training, public events and creative projects, with delivery due to start this month.

The project is led by Neath Port Talbot Council‘s countryside and wildlife team and takes in the upland core of the historic county of Glamorgan. That includes the ground around Pen y Cymoedd wind farm.

From 23 hectares to 870

It builds on the original Lost Peatlands of South Wales scheme, launched in 2021 with £1.56m of Lottery money to restore 256 hectares of bog that had been ploughed and drained for timber after the Second World War.

By 2024 that work had turned a 50-hectare former plantation above Glyncorrwg, the size of 70 rugby pitches, back into wet peatland by blocking drains and flipping tree stumps back into the ground.

With the new award, National Lottery Heritage Fund money for the two projects comes to around £3.5m. Match funding and partner contributions lift the value of the latest phase alone to almost £2.6m, the council says.

Peat matters because it holds carbon. In good condition a bog locks it in and soaks up rainfall; drained and dried out, it leaks carbon into the air and sends water straight downhill.

The council says the work will leave the hills more resilient for wildlife while helping with carbon storage, natural flood management and the wildfires that have scorched the Afan Valley plateau in recent summers.

Who is involved

Alongside the council, the partnership brings in Natural Resources Wales through its National Peatland Action Programme, and the wind farm’s owner Vattenfall.

The Woodland Trust and Coed Lleol, the Small Woods Association, are also on board. So is the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales.

Across the county line, Rhondda Cynon Taf Council completes the line-up.

Cllr Jeremy Hurley, the council’s cabinet member for climate change and economic growth, said the funding would allow the partners “to build on the success of the previous project” and called it “a major investment in the landscapes, wildlife and communities of the South Wales Valleys”.

He added that the project “will create opportunities for people of all ages to improve their wellbeing, learn new skills, discover local heritage and develop a stronger connection with the natural world around them”.

Cllr Cen Phillips, cabinet member for nature, tourism and wellbeing, said the money “will help more people experience and connect with these incredible places” and should encourage more residents and visitors “to explore all that the area has to offer”.

Andrew White, director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, said the project “brings together nature recovery, heritage conservation and community engagement in a way that will create lasting benefits for both people and places”.

Anyone wanting to follow the work or get involved can contact [email protected] or find the project as @LostPeatlands on social media.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Major peatland site restored in Neath Port Talbot: the 50-hectare Glyncorrwg site, the size of 70 rugby pitches, brought back to bog in 2024.

Restoration of ‘lost peatlands’ to combat climate change: how the first 23 hectares at Castell Nos were re-wetted with peat dams.

Lost Peatlands project key in fight against climate and nature emergencies: why the plateau above the Afan and Rhondda holds the most southerly deep peat of its size in Wales.

South Wales’s ‘Lost Peatlands’ given new lease of life: the original £1.56m Lottery award in 2021.

SWANSEA: Residents’ worries about the city’s rivers and beaches are heading to Welsh Water

What residents told their MP about the city’s rivers, beaches and sea is going to Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water.

Torsten Bell, the Swansea West MP, says the ideas and concerns raised at his Turning the Tides meeting on Thursday evening will be put to the company at a meeting with him.

More than 60 people went along to the meeting in Swansea city centre, according to his office.

Hamish Osborn of Natural Resources Wales was on the panel, alongside David Lewis of Swansea Community Boat Trust.

So was Dawn Thomas of the Gower Society and Nature Days.

According to Bell’s office, the speakers set out the current state of local waterways and the work already under way to protect and restore them.

Tawe sickness reports and sewage off Mumbles: why Swansea’s water is on the agenda

The meeting follows a summer in which children were reported ill after swimming in the River Tawe, and the First Minister asked NRW to investigate.

NRW found no evidence of pollution, permit breaches or any other environmental incident that would explain the reported illnesses, the Welsh Government said in a written statement on 2 September.

Upstream, Welsh Water named its treatment works at Trebanos in 2020 as the worst of its 50 problem sites in Wales.

Mike Hedges, the Labour Member of the Senedd for Gŵyr Abertawe, told the chamber in June that the works could not separate rainwater from sewage. He said NRW had confirmed that work to stop its regular discharges into the river was not likely to be finished until 2030.

On Gower, NRW’s own sampling stops when the summer bathing season ends.

Volunteers overseen by Thomas have been testing the sea through the winter instead. Their second season ran 77 tests at five beaches, and eight found sewage.

Half of those were at Knab Rock in Mumbles, after heavy rain.

In June, the regulator Ofwat confirmed a £44.7m package forcing Welsh Water to fix its sewage failures, which critics called too little, too late.

Torsten Bell: ‘This isn’t the end of the conversation’

Bell said it was “brilliant to see so many residents turn out to have their say on this issue”.

He added: “It’s clear people in Swansea care deeply about our rivers and coastline and want to see real action to improve them.”

Hearing directly from people doing the work on the ground was “invaluable”, the MP said.

Bell said: “This isn’t the end of the conversation. It’s the start.”

He said he would keep working with residents, campaigners and agencies “to push for the investment and action our waterways need”.

What Welsh Water has said about water quality

In September, a spokesperson for Welsh Water said water quality was “not just an issue for water companies”.

The spokesperson pointed to industry, urban runoff, soil erosion, rural land use, illegal misconnections and septic tanks. They said the company was investing £4bn between 2025 and 2030, including £889m on storm overflows.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SWANSEA: Kids were reported ill after swimming in the Tawe. Now Torsten Bell wants residents round a table about the water
How the meeting came about, and Swansea’s year on the water.

RIVER TAWE: First Minister orders investigation after sewage and sickness concerns raised in Senedd
What the Senedd was told about Trebanos, and the 2030 date.

GOWER: Volunteers find sewage at beaches after heavy rain
A second winter of testing the sea, and what the samples showed.

WELSH WATER: £44.7m sewage package confirmed
What the regulator’s package pays for, and why critics were not satisfied.

More on sewage and water quality
Our coverage of the rivers and beaches across Swansea Bay.

https://www.europesays.com/uk/1251789/ Wales cannot prevent every climate impact, but we can prepare for them #BeFloodReady #Britain #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #flooding #GreatBritain #NaturalResourcesWales #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales