Native woods are one of the greatest experiences in nature, with a constantly shifting range of light, colours and sounds.  The extent of once-wooded hillsides in the Cambrians can easily be traced through the place names: an “allt” was a wooded slope not suitable for farming for food, but managed nevertheless for its value as a source of fuel and building materials.

Unfortunately, little of this original habitat remains: such of Wales’ oak woodlands as had not been harvested for shipbuilding and pit props was cut in great swathes for making trenches in the First World War.  In some places, the oak woods have been regenerating quietly over the last century.  But in many more, they’ve been replaced entirely by more modern forestry approaches: the planting of quick-growing conifer species, predominantly (75% or more) Sitka spruce, beloved of the timber industry even though in our harsh climate the trees produce softer wood of which little is suitable for anything but paper pulp and chipboard.  These dark and obviously unnatural blocks of trees spread over a large part of the land around Llyn Brianne as well as parts of the Elan Valley and the top of Cwm Berwyn.  The ground is generally barren of anything bar brambles, some ferns and an interesting array of fungi; but the tree tops, miraculously, have proved a refuge for the small native red squirrel: the larger (alien) greys need richer food than the tiny seeds of the Sitka spruce, and so have not yet penetrated to compete and bring their pox into contact with the reds.

In the central portion of the Cambrian Mountains, the Elenydd, many farms were bought up after the second World War for plantation as forestry, and are now being harvested and replanted for the second or even third time.  The costs to soils and acidification of waterways has been significant.  But now Natural Resources Wales are consulting on a new 10 year plan which includes slightly less conifer monoculture, especially along streams and rivers, and even a bit of peatland restoration work – though they remain committed to planting on peat provided it is no more than 1m thick.   In addition there are good words about public access and recreational use – though, notably, no additional proposals or resources actually to do anything in that regard.

You can see the Society’s response here.  If you want to send in your own thoughts, the deadline for the consultation is 24 December (who has anything else to do for the next week, anyway??) and the address to send it to is frp@cyoethnaturiolcymru.gov.uk.