Projects play a big part in caring for environment
A KIDWELLY project is playing a huge part in caring for the environment and also teaching children about the importance of looking after nature.
The John Burns Foundation has two schemes running, one teaching people the dying art of managing hedgerows and the other getting little ones involved in green-fingered activities – in particular tree-planting.
The foundation, which has approximately 20 acres of land, believes both projects complement each other.
Project manager Chris Cray said: “It’s an art that is dying out in managing hedgerows and we are using the opportunity to educate and teach the community while developing the land with the environment in mind.
“Attendees of our first introductory hedge-laying course really got to grips with things.
“Under the supervision of master craftsman Richard Lewis, Mencap volunteers along with members of the John Burns Foundation’s Better Tomorrow Programme relaid 60m of beautiful old hedge line.
“This activity is just one of the exciting conservation initiatives that are starting here at the John Burns Foundation, made possible by support from the Leader European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the Welsh Government and Carmarthenshire Council.”
Matthew Collinson, conservation and outdoor preservation officer at the John Burns Foundation, said: “Hedge-laying is a traditional practice, by which trees and shrubs are partially cut and then lain almost flat, after which they regrow vigorously, creating a dense boundary that is a valuable habitat for wildlife.”
He added: “Many of our hedges were cleared to make way for bigger fields after the Second World War, or have become neglected over time.
“When managed sensitively, their value to biodiversity cannot be underestimated and although rarely no more than a few metres wide, some hedges can even be classed as ancient woodland themselves.”
Turning to the efforts of Carmarthenshire schoolchildren at the foundation’s land as part of its Woodland Heroes project, Mr Collinson said: “We have visits here from schools where pupils help us plant trees and we give them a talk about trees and how important they are in nature.
“We have also been doing an outreach scheme where we have planted apple trees in schools across Carmarthenshire.
“The children love planting the trees and are always enthusiastic, which is great.”
The Woodland Heroes project has been designed by the John Burns Foundation with European funding from the Leader programme and has seen pupils from Ysgol Gwenllian, Ysgol Mynyddygarreg, Ysgol Parc y Tywyn, Ysgol y Castell, Ysgol Heol Goffa, Pembrey Primary School, Trimsaran Primary School and Burry Port Primary School learn about the many benefits of planting trees.
More than 600 saplings were donated by the Woodland Trust as part of its wider initiative to reach the UK Government’s 2050 carbon-neutral target.
Each group of pupils planted their own patch of wildwood trees on agricultural land at Canolfan John Burns Centre, with the goal of offsetting carbon emissions and restoring wildlife corridors in the local community.