Projects
Prosiect Gwneud Gwair Cymreig / Making Welsh Hay Project
Our Prosiect Gwneud Gwair Cymreig/ Making Welsh Hay Project aims to restore traditional hay meadows in and around Llanidloes.
- Hay meadows are a type of species-rich grassland which provide valuable habitats for birds, mammals and insects
- They were formerly a widespread and distinctive UK habitat but are now reduced to scattered fragments
- 97% of hay meadows has been lost in less than a century
- That dramatic loss has been a major factor in the loss of UK’s biodiversity
- Restoring hay meadows is therefore a route to recovering much of what has been lost. It also brings the community together – old and young, locals and newcomers, farming and townspeople.
- We bring people into meadows in the summer to collect seeds for their own gardens and fields and to identify the insects, grasses, small mammals and birds.
- In partnership with the Wilderness Trust, we held a midsummer Kite and Meadow Festival in 2022.
- Children can have the special pleasure of walking through grass that is taller than they are, watching a multitude of insects close to, drawing the wildlife they see and identifying them with the help of wildlife experts and species identification sheets.
- This is a way to engage with environmental issues through taking part in outdoor activities and promotes wonder and wellbeing.
There are currently no bi-lingual Welsh/English species identification sheets – they are all in English. We have been funded by POBL and Grwp Cynefin to produce the first Welsh/ English meadow life identification sheet for local grasses, insects, birds and mammals.
This would help preserve Welsh language and culture. It would bring together different generations as we aim to get children to ask their parents and grandparents for the old local Welsh names for local wildlife and it would be an added way for schools to engage young people in the natural world.
Our partners in this project are Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust, Radnorshire Wildlife Trust and The Wilderness Trust. Funding for our Prosiect Gwneud Gwair Cymreig/ Making Welsh Hay Project is provided by:
