Issue 9

Wales and the world with Sarah Jones

The television wildlife series, Gwyllt, returns to S4C in the new year. Twenty-five year old SARAH JONES from Ganllwyd near Dolgellau, is one of the presenters of the series. Sarah has been talking to Natur Cymru about her interest in nature and conservation in Wales and abroad.

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What and where is the Welsh environment?

As global pressures mount, policy-makers need an accurate assessment of the state of our environment. What could be more important than a report which tells us exactly what condition our environment Is in, and gives a clear picture of what is improving and what is deteriorating? But do we really have such a report, MORGAN PARRY wonders, and surely we need to consider the state of Wales within the context of the global environment?

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Saving salmon and restoring a great river

The river Wye rises in Pumlumon and flows through the uplands of Montgomery, Radnor and Brecknock before reaching England. After a meandering detour through Hereford, it finally flows back into Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire and thence into the Severn estuary. Once known as the best salmon fishery south of the border, it has suffered a chequered history. STEPHEN MARSH-SMITH describes the rise and fall over the last hundred years and the huge efforts to restore the river and its salmon.

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The Lore of Plants: Killarney fern

This series tracks the cultural connections of various plants. As a botanist and plant historian in Wales, DEWI JONES tells the story of collecting the Killarney Fern in this article.

This article is written in Welsh. A translation is available on request.

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The lampreys of the River Dee

Not many of us would appreciate being called spineless, but in the case of the lamprey, this it totally true! This article by RHYS WILLIAMS discusses the life of the lamprey in the River Dee.

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The hills are alive with… water voles

"Ratty" in Wind in the Willows is an enchanting small furry mammal, which you are lucky to see these days in the waterways of Wales. All is not lost; indeed, water voles may be as much at home in small upland streams as in lowland rivers, provided that the habitat is right and fearsome predators like mink are absent, as KATE WILLIAMSON and CHRIS HALL explain.

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The fungi of Welsh sand dunes

In a state of continuous change through the forces of wind and sea, sand dunes are one of our most dynamic and natural habitats. We are blessed in Wales with as rich a sand dune heritage as any in Europe. Their wildlife includes many specially adapted plants and animals, pioneers of this ever-changing and challenging world of sand. PETER RHIND and JAMES ROBERTSON describe one of the lesser-known components of sand-dune wildlife, the fungi.

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