Wales Feed

World Wetlands Day

Martin Aaron — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:17:12 +0000

Today, millions of people around the world will be taking part in activities to mark World Wetlands Day

Since 1997 World Wetlands Day has been used to raise public awareness to the values and benefits of wetland habitats.

The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance called the Ramsar Convention was established in 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar on the shores of the Caspian Sea and is the only global environmental treaty that deals with a particular ecosystem.

This year's theme is Wetlands and Tourism which has benefits both locally and nationally for people and widlife. At least 35% of Ramsar sites around the world now have a toursim activity associated with them.

It is difficult to place a monetary value on a unique type of habitat but in Britain it has been estimated to be worth somewhere in the region of £6.5 billion.

This figure can be broken down into a number of different resources - from flood prevention and storm defences to water purification and storage, not to mention the abundance of wildlife species found in wetland areas and the vital role wetland habitat plays in reducing carbon emissions.

According to Ramsar, wetlands are among the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate change and some including coral reefs, mangroves, and those found in tropical forests, sub-arctic forests, prairies and arctic/alpine zones are especially at risk.

Wetland areas such as peatlands, salt marshes and mangroves play a crucial role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions as they act as natural carbon 'sinks' locking in significant amounts of carbon while drainage and peat extraction releases it into the atmosphere.

A recent study found that 'damage to peatlands has been responsible for annual emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) equivalent to 10% of emissions from worldwide use of fossil fuels.

It's worth noting however that different wetlands store and release carbon in different ways and at varying levels.

Newport wetlands centre

Wales has its fair share of internationally important wetland habitats which have fully embraced the concept of wildlife tourism in partnership with other wildlife organisations such as the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) and RSPB and the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Tourist traps

Nowadays you don't even need to get your feet wet to visit a wetland reserve as the majority have embraced tourism and cater for people of all ages and abilities with state of the art visitor centres, plush wooden boardwalks, comfortable well positioned bird hides and wildlife guides on hand.

They are also attracting large numbers of schools too with a range of activities designed to teach schoolchildren about the local wildlife and the environment - including pond dipping, bird watching, bush-craft skills and bark rubbing.

Newport Wetlands National Nature Reserve in south Wales has had over 16,500 school children through its doors since it opened in 2005.

CCW Reserve Manager Kevin Dupé said: "It's a great time of year for people to get out and see the over-wintering birds. Tufted ducks, pochard and gadwall are commonly seen on the reserve's reedbeds. Keep a look out and you may be lucky enough to see a golden-eye duck, short-eared owl or marsh harrier, which are a rare sight."

Reserves in Wales

Wetland reserves in Wales were given a boost in 2011 when the RSPB reserve at Ynys Hir in Ceredigion became the new home for BBC Springwatch.

The 700 hectare reserve is set in a stunning location at the top of the Dyfi Estuary, flanked by the Cambrian Mountains with a huge variety of different habitats including Welsh oak woodland, wet grassland, saltmarsh, reedbeds, heathland, rivers and ponds.

The nearby Dyfi Reserve, managed by the CCW comprises of the Dyfi Estuary, Ynyslas Dunes and Cors Fochno (Borth bog) is one of the largest and finest examples of a raised peat bog in the UK.

The Dyfi estuary is one of only 11 sites in Britain which has been registered as an international Biosphere Reserve and is a vital feeding ground for large numbers of wildfowl.

In winter large numbers of waders and wildfowl use the estuary including important numbers of wigeon and the estuary also supports the only regular wintering population of Greenland white-fronted geese in Wales and England.

The Ynyslas dunes are home to many rare species of fungi and orchid and also a nocturnal hunting spider Agroeca dentigera which is unknown elsewhere in Britain.

Cors Fochno is home to a large number of sphagnum bog mosses including three which are nationally scarce and provide a rich habitat for bog invertebrate rarities such as the rosy marsh moth, the large heath butterfly, bog bush cricket, small red damselfly, and the jumping spider, Heliophanus dampfi.

In 2011, osprey successfully bred at Cors Dyfi near Machynlleth for the first time and thanks to GPS tracking, Reserve Warden Emyr Evan has been monitoring the birds as they made their winter migration south to Gambia and Senegal.

Wetland habitat can also be re-created and thrive near large populations such as the man-made Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust centre in Llanelli which opened in 1991.

American / Caribbean Flamingo, WWT Llanelli in August 2011. Image by Steve Greaves.

Besides the thousands of wintering waders that visit the 450 acre site, the centre has also attracted more exotic species such as little egret and flamingo and in July 2011 hit the headlines when a lesser flamingo chick hatched - only the second ever born in captivity in Britain.

Wetland Facts

Wetlands are used for fishing, farming, transport, tourism, recreation and sport.

Communities around the world use reeds to make rafts, boats, housing materials and thatching as well as peat for fuel.

Many countries still rely on waterways as their principle method of travel and transportation.

Man-made wetlands such as paddy fields provide rice to over half of the world's population.

The world's largest continental wetland is the Pantanal in South America covering an area larger than England.

Other wetlands to visit in Wales:

Cors Caron

Cors Geirch

Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Llanelli

Oxwich

Cors Goch

Wetter summers, colder winters

Derek Brockway — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 10:32:03 +0000

Because of the cold weather, some people are saying "so much for global warming" which is understandable but this is far from the case. Climate and weather, although interlinked, are separate things.

Mark Twain, American humorist, writer and lecturer once said "Climate is what we expect and weather is what we get!"

Weather is something which changes by the hour and from day to day, while climate is weather averaged over a long period of time - normally 30 years.

The cold weather we're experiencing now doesn't mean that that global warming has suddenly stopped or gone away.

Far from it. It's just that we're colder than normal at the moment and other parts of the world are warmer than usual which is all part of the natural variation in weather.

Normally, the jet stream, which is a ribbon of strong winds high in the atmosphere (around 30,000 feet), would steer areas of low pressure in from the Atlantic bringing us spells of wet and windy weather but sometimes the jet stream gets diverted.

High pressure forms to the north and east of Britain and instead of mild south westerly winds - we end up with winds from the north or east, drawing in very cold air from the Arctic, Scandinavia and sometimes Siberia.

These winds pick-up moisture as they cross the sea and dump it as snow. Sometimes the atmosphere can get stuck in a rut and "blocks of air" can form.

These blocks are natural and can be difficult to shift and can last from a few days to a few weeks before finally breaking down.

Depending on which side of the block you are on - it can either be very warm or exceptionally cold.

Recently it's been colder in Wales than on the south coast off Greenland because of the shape and position of the jet stream. In Russia this summer however, a blocking high led to a devastating heat wave and drought.

Since 1981 and 1982 many winters have been fairly mild in Wales until recently with little if any snow before Christmas.

Another thing to bear in mind, is that although the overall trend in Britain maybe towards a warmer climate, that does not rule out wet summers in the future or cold, snowy winters.

Indeed, some forecasters are now saying we could be entering a new phase or cycle, something which is separate from climate change.

This cycle may last several years or even decades and if right, it could mean that colder winters may be something we have to get used to.

Time will tell of course but whether you believe in climate change or not, one thing is certain, the weather will never stop being a talking point in Britain wherever you are; at the bus stop, in work or down the pub!

Derek

Mediterranean visitor

Martin Aaron — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 10:41:16 +0000

A pipefish that's usually spotted in the warm seas of the Mediterranean has been found off the Welsh coast.

This pipefish photographed by marine scientist Paul Kay, is thought to be a Shore or Black-striped Pipefish (Syngnathus abaster):

Previously, it had only been found as far north as Southern Biscay in the Atlantic, with the odd one seen more northerly off the coast of France, but never before in Welsh waters.

Dr Mandy McMath, Senior Marine Ecologist for the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) said, "Some species, if recorded routinely, could reveal important information on climate change and seasonal migrations. The sighting of more southerly species in Welsh waters indicates a possible rise in sea temperatures."

Paul Kay, co-author of 'Marine Fishes of Wales' would love any fishermen, rockpoolers, divers and people interested in identifying fish to report any unusual sightings to www.fishrecording.info

"There are gaps in our information about endangered species so all information will help us build up a better picture of fish species in Welsh waters."

Polar bears: Hudson Bay reflections

Martin Aaron — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:17:44 +0000

As part of the BBC Wales Green Season, we recently featured a short film by Tom Rugg - a science teacher from Wales who is doing his bit to raise awareness about climate change and its effects on polar bear populations.

Tom has kindly written an exclusive blog for us about his thoughts on this subject:

"In late November 2008 I stood on the shores of Hudson Bay at Cape Churchill - a gathering point for the polar bears waiting to move out onto the sea ice.

In living memory Hudson Bay has reliably begun to freeze over from the first week in November.

At the end of November 2008 the Bay was still open water. This year, forecasts predict that Hudson Bay will not freeze over until mid-December.

While climate change is a misleading and emotive term (since the history of out planet is a history of a constantly changing climate), the patterns recognised have for the most part fallen into cyclical trends.

What is new about the phenomena we are witnessing now is the speed of the change and that it is contradictory to natural trends.

We can argue over the causes of climate change, but what we must acknowledge is that adding mind-boggling volumes of CO2 to the atmosphere can only make the whole situation worse - even if the methane released from thawing tundra seems a natural rather than man-made process.

The wholesale drowning of polar bears is not seriously predicted by anyone (though sightings of polar bears in open water more than 30 miles from land and the discovery of washed up polar bear corpses have increased in the past couple of years in the Beaufort Sea area).

But the more rapid decline in multi-year ice than any scientists predicted is of course going to lead to cases of increasingly desperate bears hunting on poor quality ice.

With the pack ice in recent years breaking up almost a month earlier than recorded in living memory, the impact on polar bears is painfully predictable.

The scientists and researchers I interviewed in Hudson Bay in 2008 were eminent in their fields.

Their data from the Beaufort Sea and Hudson Bay area confirmed a decline both in the number and condition of the polar bears they were studying over a 25 year period with a worrying increase in the mortality of 2 year-old bears who were foraging on the ice for the first time independent of their mothers.

Polar bears are an arctic icon and have become symbolic of our relationship with the biodiversity of the planet.

Current predictions indicate that we will lose a circumpolar Arctic species of polar bear (ursus maritimus) and be left with a fragmented population restricted to the surviving ice floes South West of Greenland.

Evidence does suggest that polar bears have been "absorbed" by brown bear populations in previous interglacials.

The species are closely related and polar bears appear to have "re-emerged" when conditions have become more favourable.

But these evolutionary processes take time...

Will we be content to have lost such a majestic species over such a large part of its present range in the hope that one day, in the eons beyond our own lifespan, it may reappear again?"

Tom Rugg

Photos: Swollen rivers

Derek Brockway — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:06:17 +0000

The rivers are swollen throughout Wales thanks to all this rain.

I've had these photos in from reader Colin Roberts who says, "This is the river Dee in Llangollen which passes the bottom of our garden:"

Derek

Farmer's counting their footprints

Martin Aaron — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:45:07 +0000

This article just in from the Countryside Council for Wales about farmers in Wales doing their bit for the environment:

"Even in the farthest flung corners of deepest rural Wales, thoughts are turning towards how we can all play our part in what must follow from Copenhagen's Climate Conference in December.

More than 20 farmers are taking part in a pioneering project that will calculate the carbon footprint of their farm activities, leading to advice on how cuts in carbon emissions can be made.

The scheme is part of the Cambrian Mountains Initiative, a project which works with local farmers to promote sustainable rural development through the highest standards of environmental management.

Steven Bradley, the Countryside Council for Wales' Cambrian Mountains Project Officer will be visiting the farms in November.

He said: "This carbon footprinting work extends the scope of existing farm carbon footprint tools to include carbon fluxes in agricultural soils and natural vegetation on farms, as well as considering the carbon footprint of bought-in feeds and fertilizers.

A fuller picture of the role farms and land management play in reducing emissions will emerge."

The footprint analysis, being carried out by Bangor University, will provide hints and tips on how to reduce each farm's footprint.

Steven added: "We are delighted that the farming community has embraced this project. If there are considerable savings - in terms of emissions emitted as well as financial benefits - we hope the model can be applied in other areas."

Gwern Evans, the Cambrian Mountains Initiative Business Manager said: "The Cambrian Mountains is a region already associated with producing high quality food and we are looking to develop opportunities where we can strengthen the green and sustainable credentials of our region's produce.

We hope that the findings of this work will demonstrate that the region's products are not only tasty but also sustainable.

We will also use this research as a platform to explore new ways of reducing agricultural carbon footprints in the region."

The Cambrian Mountains Initiative is a collaborative project involving the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG), Countryside Council for Wales (CCW),The Prince of Wales and his Charities, Tourism Partnership Mid Wales, CADW, Forestry Commission, Environment Agency and the local authorities of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Powys.

The Initiative is a working collaboration between communities, projects and all levels of the public, private and voluntary sector."

Hay fever - the silent assassin

Martin Aaron — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:46:12 +0000

If you have a spare minute over lunch today, have a read of the latest article on climate change that we've commissioned as part of the BBC Wales Green Season.

This one is written by Dr Tim Rich from the National Museum of Wales and looks at the possible impact of invasive plant species and pollen levels as temperatures rise in Wales.

We're all used to reading about heat waves, storms, wetter winters and floods but how many of you have ever thought about plants and pollen becoming a major issue?

You can find more articles about climate change and its effect on Welsh wildlife on BBC Wales Nature.

Gull

BBC Wales Green Season

Climate change means wetter winters

Derek Brockway — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:49:32 +0000

Earlier this Autumn we enjoyed some fine and warm weather but its all a distant memory now with flooded fields and swollen rivers a feature of the countryside.

I bet most of you will be glad to see the back of November. In a recent blog I mentioned the poet T. S. Elliot who described November as being a 'sombre month'.

Recently, I received a letter from Martin Blackmore from Sketty in Swansea who sent me a copy of a poem by Ted Hughes called 'November'. In it Ted describes November as "the month of the drowned dog". I tend to agree! ;)

The recent record breaking rainfall in Cumbria was caused by a combination of factors. A constant supply of warm and moist air from the Atlantic and very strong south-westerly winds.

As the air hits the high ground in the Lake District the air is forced to rise upwards creating more condensation, clouds and rain.

In meteorology, this process is called 'Orographic Enhancement' when rainfall in the mountains can be at least 10 times greater than on the coast.

In Wales, November is the third wettest month of the year with an average rainfall of 156.8mm.

So far this month we've exceeded that with 241.8mm of rain but some mountainous areas have had more than this!

At our weather station at Dyffryn Mymbyr near Capel Curig in Conwy, 496.6 mm of rain has fallen so far this month, way in excess of the November average of 285.6 mm for that location.

The wettest day in Wales was at Lluest Wen Reservoir in the Rhondda Valley on November 11th 1929, with 211.1mm of rain in 24 hours.

While the wettest November in Wales came in 1965 with over 311mm.

Late October and early November 2000 also saw severe flooding with over twice the normal rainfall.

The River Dee in North Wales burst its banks and landslides also occurred in early February 2004, around Llanwrst in the Conwy valley of North Wales.

Preceding this, there was prolonged heavy rainfall across Snowdonia, with over 300 mm of rain falling at Capel Curig in just 6 days.

As climate change takes hold, winters in Wales are expected to become milder and wetter with less snow and more storms.

Warmer air can hold more moisture so more intense downpours are likely too with an increased risk of flooding.

In the short term, an active cold front will cross Wales tonight bringing a short spell of heavy rain accompanied by very squally winds.

Wind gusts around 70mph are possible on exposed coasts in the South and West and the odd isolated tornado is possible too!

Wednesday will be brighter and colder with a mixture of sunny intervals and showers. Most of the showers in the south and west.

Some heavy with a risk of hail and again it will be windy. Temperatures lower than today 9 to 11 Celsius with a strong to gale force South Westerly wind.

Derek

BBC Wales' Green Season

Martin Aaron — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:12:57 +0000

Some of you may have spotted the TV adverts currently going out on BBC One Wales to promote our new Green Season this month, which will be looking at how Wales is dealing with global warming and environmental issues.

There are a number of programmes both on Radio Wales and TV as well as a new dedicated Green Season website which will link off to a lot of the season's content.

If you're interested in how global warming is already affecting our wildlife here in Wales then you may like to check out our mini site on the nature portal.

I've also put together a gallery featuring some of the more unusual species which may have arrived here as a direct result of climate change.

We're certainly seeing a lot more migrant species these days and fin whales were particularly abundant off the coast this summer (10-20 spotted on 13 August) and who can forget that dolphin super pod which made the headlines in July 2009!

Richard Crossen at the Sea Trust recently informed me that 1500 common dolphins were actually spotted on 28 June from their survey boat and we've also had risso dolphins arriving to give birth - is this connected to our rising sea temperatures?

Then we had the rare glossy ibis appearing in Camarthenshire - a sight not seen since 1910!

The weather and U.S hurricane season was the likely cause of this but it is all ultimately linked to climate change, hence our wet and wild summer this year. I've never eaten so many damp sausages!

The harlequin ladybird has been another species to hit the headlines this year. This little critter is spreading like 'wild fire' and it's only a matter of time before they arrive 'en masse' to Wales.

We've had a few sightings in Mid and North Wales but most are in the South East of England. Hopefully the Severn bridge tolls will put them off...

Who knows what effect they will have on our native ladybird species but they're competing for the same food. Are there enough aphids to go around?

It will also be interesting to see how early the first frog spawn arrives in 2010 and when the first daffodils spring up. December/ January seems to be the norm these days...

In the meantime I'm finding the BBC's Bloom blog on climate change very entertaining.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this and find out what is going on around Wales.

Have you encountered any signs of global warming, directly?

Do your frogs now spawn ridiculously early? I can see a time when frogs will cease to hibernate at all...

Have you noticed any unusual species visiting your area or noticed any invasive species in your garden? They come in all shapes and sizes.

Gull

BBC News - The Green Room

'350' Snowdon protest

Martin Aaron — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:32:11 +0000

On October 24, '350' protests took place in 170 countries all over the world as a reminder for world leaders meeting at December's, Copenhagen climate change conference that people all around the world care about the issue of climate change.

Here is what happened at Snowdon. Words and photos by our guest blogger - Huw Jenkins.

Saturday, 24 October: Rhyd Ddu car park in the rain.

I'd arrived early to make sure I got a parking space but I needn't have worried, fair-weather friends had taken the forecast to heart.

At 9am around 40 of us walked past a BBC cameraman, oddly preoccupied with filming our boots instead of the '350' banners! And started up the path to Snowdon.

We were one of many protests around the world aimed at bringing attention to the excessive levels of carbon leading to climate change - 350 parts per million. Okay but at 385 and rising, big problems lie ahead...

Rod Gritten:

Our plan was to form a human ring around Snowdon, 60 feet beneath the summit at the 3,500 foot contour line.

By coincidence the circumference at this height is 350 metres. Our intrepid leader and a couple of other mountaineering types carried ropes to abseil down the steep side.

There was even talk of someone doing a fly past on a hang glider to film us in our fluorescent jackets, linking arms!

The journey up will not be remembered for the views, with low cloud disguising the steep drop either side of the ridge and 70 to 80 mph winds battering us.

Heavy boots were being blown several inches from the intended footstep but eventually Hafod Eryri beckoned us out of the swirling mist.

Trains had been cancelled - the wind being double the maximum force for safe operation. Rain had penetrated everywhere apart from the waterproof bag of dry clothes which I gratefully changed into.

Other walkers and fellow protesters converged on the cafe which was doing a brisk business in hot drinks.

Our plan was discussed and discretion being the better part of valour, we abandoned the ropes and opted to encircle the summit from just above the cafe.

A long red ribbon was unfurled and snaked up into the sky as people grabbed hold of it and walked it round the rocks.

The banner on a single stick flapped furious whilst the pair holding a banner between two poles were almost blown from the top.

A brief pose for photos with one hand on the ribbon and a fist punching into the storm then time to pack up and descend.

Had there been but 350 parts per million of carbon would it have been a fine day? No.

But this is a humbling place from which to experience the extremes of climate with wind speeds of up to 200 mph and 5 metres rainfall per year - it makes me realise how strong the powers of nature can be and that we mess things up at our peril.

Huw Jenkins

Watch the event on You Tube

COP15 - United Nations Climate Change Conference - Copenhagen 2009

Rare birds warming to Wales?

Martin Aaron — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:35:34 +0000

Here's a nice little piece about how, rare birds are beginning to establish themselves in Wales as our climate begins to warm up.

Find out more and listen to the interview on BBC Local - South East Wales.

You may remember the blog I did on the rare glossy ibis which was sent in to our Flickr group?

No, not literally! It was a photo...But we are seeing more and more unusual birds appearing here.

I remember when we had a photo of a hoopoe sent in from Llandovery of all places about 3 years ago.

There aren't many more exotic looking birds you could ever hope to see in Wales than a hoopoe, with it's amazing pink plumage and head crest.

It will be interesting to see how things pan out over the next 20 years or so...

A colleague of mine mentioned he'd seen a shearwater whilst visiting the Isle of Man last weekend?!

I thought they'd be long gone by now, on their way back to South America but he seemed to be fairly sure, and pointed out that he was with some locals who verified it.

I still think he was drunk but the jury is out on that one!

Perhaps the warmer weather has delayed some birds from leaving quite so soon at the end of the summer?

As for visitors - we're currently getting lots of blackbird 'imposters' from Northern Europe, fleeing the Scandinavian winter.

You can tell them apart from our 'resident' blackbirds as they appear to be less settled in your garden and can often be seen acting suspiciously...use your imagination. ;)

You might also see them hanging out amongst flocks of redwing and fieldfare which are beginning to appear on the east coast. Chris Peckham was talking about this on Autumnwatch recently.

If you're a keen bird watcher or wildlife photographer then perhaps you'd like to let me know what unusual species you've come across, so far this year?

Keep an eye out

Gull