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News
Magor Marsh Reserve Open Day
Saturday 19th July 2008 from 2pm until 5pm
Vandals Endanger Children’s Lives at Magor Marsh
The big news is Wyeswood Common -
Back to the Future! See the
Wyeswood Common web page.
Download a copy of the
detailed Local News
for Spring
2008 including a "Recreating Wyeswood Common" special.
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Magor Marsh Reserve Open Day 2007
What a great afternoon we had on Saturday 15th
September 07! Over 450 people chose to come to the
Magor Marsh Reserve Open Day.
The sun was shining, the dragonflies were buzzing and everyone
became thoroughly absorbed in the multitude of activities available
on the site. Over 100 children took part in the pond dipping and saw
amazing creatures lurking in the depths of the reen – water
scorpions, sticklebacks and beetles, dragonfly nymphs and newtlets.
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Many people joined our organised walks around the
reserve, others found their own way round the boardwalks doing the
self-guided trails. On the way round they found out more about the
creatures that live on the reserve, the history of the site, watched
candlesticks being made on a pole lathe and gazed at the birds
through binoculars set up by Gwent Ornithological Society in the
bird hide.
Back at the centre there were even more activities
for children and families – face painting, badge making, dragonfly
making and lucky dips. There were lots of stalls raising awareness
of other wildlife issues including our GWT campaign against the
levels motorway (CALM). 70 children managed to complete the quiz
collecting stamps as they went around all the stalls.
We’ve already had fantastic feedback from those
who came. Some new volunteers came forward and we had enquiries from
schools keen to visit the reserve with their pupils. We look forward
to welcoming them. All in all the day was a great success for Gwent
Wildlife Trust.
E-mail newsletter
We have started a monthly email
newsletter to members. Please
email the Trust office
if you would like to start receiving this newsletter.
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Rare fungus at Silent
Valley
One of the highlights of the
summer has been the first record for Wales for an endangered
fungus – the Tiered Tooth Hiricium cirrhatum.
See the web page for more photos of this stunning and
distinctive toothed bracket fungus and more information.
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Successful Trust Quiz
The annual GWT Quiz, organised by the
Trust’s Blaenau Gwent group, was held very successfully on Tuesday
18 Sept. The winning team was led by the Trust’s Assistant Chief
Executive, Roger Finn – their victory is attributed entirely to the
near absence of any natural history questions! A great time
was had by all, and the proceeds from the quiz will make a very
useful contribution to the Trust’s resources.
New Education Centre
We are very excited by the distinct
possibility that the regeneration of the Ebbw Vale steelworks site will
provide an environmental education centre run by Gwent Wildlife
Trust. We are working closely with Blaenau Gwent Council and the
Welsh Assembly, and an area around the old water treatment works has
been identified.
With our flagship
Silent Valley Local Nature
Reserve just down the valley, this should achieve our ambition of
having an exciting base to open people’s eyes to the wealth of
wildlife in the Valleys.
Our initial surveys of the water treatment
works turned up 100 species of wildflowers in one hour, including a
species of Cudweed which is now listed in the plants Red Data Book,
and a beautiful spike of Southern Marsh-orchid, along with
dragonflies and damselflies including the Broad-bodied Chaser.
Opencast threat to new lichen
We have had to put a very strong
response in to Torfaen County Borough Council in opposition to an
application for opencast coal extraction at the Varteg, between
Pontypool and Blaenafon. Detailed survey work has shown a wealth of
wildlife around the pit tips and on patches of old grassland. Scarce
Blue-tailed Damselfly and Keeled Skimmer, Common Lizard, Stonechat
and Grey Partridge are all under threat. Wetlands on the site are
valuable for newts and rare mosses. Most strikingly, a lichen found
on the site appears to be new to science. There is the possibility
that this planning proposal could make this species globally extinct
before it is even properly scientifically described and named.
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