How can you help?
This site outlines how we can all take action for nature in NPT. NPT Local Nature Partnership members work hard to help nature recover in NPT but it doesn't have to stop there. Nature conservation begins at home and there are steps we can all take, wherever or whoever we are, to help preserve the natural heritage of NPT. In addition to the habitat actions, we have suggested actions here that we, as individuals, could take to help improve the State of Nature in NPT. Take a look at the action plans and see what you could do to help. If you'd like any further information or have any questions about any of the actions, get in touch.
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Volunteer Opportunities in NPT
Below are some of the current volunteer opportunities in NPT - if you like the sound of one, click the link to find out more.
Afan Environment Volunteers
Work days on 1st Wednesday of the month in the Afan Valley, including habitat management and wildlife surveys.
Bryncoch Environment Group
Nature activities in the locality of Bryncoch, including toad patrols and litter picks.
Crymlyn Burrows
Rare plant monitoring, beach cleans, invasive species control. Keep an eye out for upcoming events here.
Friends of Craig Gwladus
Volunteer work parties and events at Craig Gwladus Country Park.
Lost Peatlands
Wildlife surveys, assisting with conservation tasks and supporting at events.
Afan Angling and Conservation Club
Management of the River Afan, including works to remove barriers to fish migration.
Work parties in and around the village of Bryn, including Bryn Tip LNR.
The NPT B-lines project aims to address the decline in our pollinating insects by creating a network of B-lines linking wildflower-rich habitats across NPT
Marsh Fritillary surveys and habitat management in locality of the Dulais valley.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Are you passionate about helping your community become a better place for people and nature? Below are a few ideas for you.
Join the NPT for Nature Group
NPT for Nature is a sub-group of NPT Local Nature Partnership which meets every three months. The aim of the group is to provide advice and guidance for actions that you and your local community could do to help your nature neighbours. Join us to get ideas and inspiration, from butterfly surveys to meadow management.
NPT Bee Friendly Streets
Could you work with your neighbours to create a Bee Friendly Street? NPT Council have produced a guide to help you transform your front gardens, window boxes, shop fronts and communal spaces to encourage pollinators to visit and live on your street. Contact the team to learn more.
Balsam Bash
In the summer months, the invasive non-native species Himalayan Balsam appears along our rivers. Whilst undoubtedly a beautiful plant, it is a threat to our habitats, quickly out-competing native plant species to become the dominant vegetation over large areas. You can help to protect vulnerable habitats by organising community balsam bashes. Balsam bashing (pulling up the plant by its roots, or bashing it down) is surprisingly mindful and easy!
Hedgehog Highways
One of the biggest threats to hedgehogs in NPT is isolation from other hedgehogs by fences, walls and busy roads. You could help the hedgehogs in your neighbourhood by working with your neighbours to create a 'Hedgehog Highway'- all it takes is the creation of a small hole in your garden fence! There is lots of information on how this could be achieved here hedgehogstreet.org
AT SCHOOL
Are you a parent or educator looking to engage children with nature in NPT? Below is a list of actions which you could take to get involved with NPT Nature Partnership projects and help the nature of NPT.
NPT Bee Friendly- Nature on the Verge
You can help NPT Council to manage verges and grasslands for wildflowers by monitoring areas in your ward to help us to determine if our management is working. We have a number of suggested classroom and outdoor activities that you could do to get the children involved and help us learn how healthy the grassland is. Contact the team to find your nearest NPT Bee Friendly site.
NPT Bee Friendly- In the School Grounds
Is there an area in your school grounds which is underused? Could you create a wildflower meadow or grassland there? This is a great project for all ages to get involved with, from doing surveys to see what plant species are present and monitoring pollinators to creating posters that tell people about your meadow. All you need to do is identify your area, stop mowing between April and August and very importantly, removing the cut material to compost so that soil nutrients are kept low. Edge cuts will maintain a neat appearance and signage, explaining what you are doing and why, helps to spread the message.
The Lost Peatlands of South Wales
Did you know that peatlands (peat bogs) store twice as much carbon as forests? And that we have lots of this special habitat in NPT? The Lost Peatlands Project is running until 2025 and is working to restore a large expanse of peatland in the uplands of NPT and RCT. Your school could do a project to learn more about peatlands or even have its own bog garden! Contact the team to find out more.
SOS - Save our Swifts
The amazing, screaming Swift is a summer visitor to NPT but, sadly, numbers of this red-listed bird are declining everywhere in Wales. This decline is thought to be due in part to the loss of nesting sites as buildings are renovated to modern standards. The provision of nest boxes or integral Swift bricks in suitable buildings may help to reverse this trend. Could you provide nest boxes for Swifts (or other house nesting birds like House Martins) on your school buildings? They need to be placed 5m above the ground with a clear flight path into the box. You can increase the chances of Swifts finding the boxes by playing the call of screaming Swifts to lure them in! Please tell us if you have Swifts nesting in your roof space.
AT WORK
Are you a business looking to take action for your environmental and social responsibilities? There are a number of ways you can do your bit to help nature in NPT.
Support a NPT Local Nature Partnership Project
The LNP has projects which you could get involved with, through funding or volunteering. For example, Runtech recently supported the LNP by undertaking a team building day removing invasive Himalayan Balsam at Bryn Tip Local Nature Reserve. If you’d like to find out more about how you could help, get in touch.
NPT Bee Friendly- On your grounds
Do you manage any verges or other green spaces? Why not start managing them as wildflower verges? Simply changing the time you cut the grass can have a big impact on verge biodiversity. All you need to do is identify your area, stop mowing between April and August and remove the cut material to compost to keep the soil nutrients low. Edge cuts will maintain a neat appearance and signage, explaining what you are doing and why, helps to spread the message. Avoid planting non-native shrubs like Cotoneaster.
Land Management with nature in mind
You can help local wildlife by stopping use of herbicides and pesticides, avoiding scrub and tree clearance/ management in bird nesting season and by making space for nature on buildings, for example, by installing bird and bat nest boxes. These small steps can have a big impact locally. Creating hedges with native trees and shrubs along boundaries is another way of creating more habitat on your grounds. Why not get your staff together to discuss ideas?
Green Infrastructure
Did you know that green infrastructure features such as green roofs, rain gardens and living walls can help regulate a building’s internal temperature, reduce storm water runoff and mitigate the urban heat island effect? If planted with native wildflower species, they have the added benefit of being wonderful habitats for pollinators. For inspiration, examples of green roofs in the county can be seen on the containers at Craig Gwladus Country Park and a living wall can be seen at Swansea University Bay Campus.
IN THE GARDEN
Are you passionate about encouraging wildlife in your garden? Below are a few ideas for you.
Go Peat Free
As well as being habitats for wildlife and stores of water to prevent flooding, the peatlands in the UK store three billion tonnes of carbon, more than all the forests of Germany, France and the UK put together. Peat from these peatlands is regularly used in the garden as compost. During the last 70 years, extensive areas of upland habitat on deep peat in NPT have been ploughed, drained and planted with conifers. The Lost Peatlands project is working to restore these peatlands, but you can also help by switching to peat-free in the garden.
Choose local provenance plants
Did you know that our native plant species will have adapted to the local conditions of NPT over a long period of time? This means that they will have local genetic variations, as will the pollinator species which depend on them in NPT. When planting new plants/ seeds in the garden, it is always best to source 'local provenance' stock to prevent this special genetic diversity from being diluted and damaged. Check with your plant supplier where your plants have been sourced from and look for local provenance.
Nature isn't Neat
Nature by design, isn't neat! You can help the wildlife in your garden by letting areas develop more naturally, leaving longer patches and letting plants like nettles have a little space. Many pollinators, like bees and butterflies, overwinter in dead plant material. You can help them survive the winter by leaving dead plant material standing, then clear it away in spring, only after temperatures are consistently reaching 10°C.
Wildflower Lawn
It may seem contradictory, but native plant species flourish in low nutrient environments. This is because high nutrient soils allow more competitive species like grasses and brambles to overtake. You can encourage wildflowers in your lawn by putting away the mower in the flowering season and collecting cuttings after mowing to reduce the nutrients in the soil. You can find out more about this here.