Conservation in Cardiff
By Ian Giblett
Who are CCV?
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We are a diverse range of volunteers
Started in 1978
Operate every Sunday
Also run conservation
weekends
 We love Tea and Biscuits!
Brief List of what we do
 Manage Woodlands
 Dry-Stone Walling
 Fencing
 Make and Maintain Footpaths
 Dig and Clear Ponds
 Lay dead and living hedges
Coppicing and Scrub
Removal
Coppicing
 Chopping a tree down can be good for its
health!!
 Traditionally coppicing was done for a
theoretically infinite supply of fuel
 With this technique a tree could live for a
very long time!
 Many reasons why conservations clear
trees
Reasons for Coppicing
 Encourages Growth
 Provides a different type of Habitat
 Trees will grow in long straight poles
Flowers Common in
This Butterfly is
Coppiced
Woodland
When more
light is let into
a wood….
…lots
of the
called
flowers
begin
Duke
of
to Burgundy
grow…..
….which
attracts
butterflies…..
….Insects and
Birds!
Birds in a Coppiced wood
This is a Chiff Chaff.
He prefers
recently coppiced
woodland
This is a Willow
Warbler. He looks
for older coppiced
woodland
Scrub Clearance
Scrub is a collective
term for Brambles
 Butterflies Love Scrub
and small trees.
 Some prefer young growth, other species
like old scrub and the rest like something
in the middle.
…withoutDunes
attention it
Clearance
on Sand
This sand dune has
would turn to
become clogged
 Sand Dunes are fairly rare ecosystems
in the
woodland.
UK with grass….
 Easily Choked with Grass, Sea Buckthorn and
other invasive species
Rabbits don’t like
long grass….
…so after we cut
the grass, they
will keep it short.
This
is
Velvet
Deadwood for Mushrooms
Shank.
EasyBall
to
This
is a Puff
spot because it
 Fungus
comes thrive
out aton dead wood and plants
Winter have been and still are a
 Mushrooms
source of mystery to humans
 The biggest living organism on the planet
is a fungus!
This is a shaggy ink
This is yellow Brain
cap. It used to be
Fungus!
boiled down to
make ink.
Habitat Piles
 Are big piles of wood
 Make a wonderful home to many plants
and animals
Walls, Fences and Hedges
Dry Stone Walling
 Outlasts any other type of boundary
 Offers Shelter to live stock
 Houses lichens, plants and small animals
 Aesthetically pleasing
 Prevents land erosion
Fencing
 Cheaper and quicker to make than a wall
 Keeps Things Out
 Keeps Things In
First you get
a line
Hedge
Laying
The finished
of trees…
product!
 Can only be done before Spring
 Involves laying trees down to create a
thick hedge
 A hedge has many benefits
…and you weave
them in to the
…then you split the
next part of the
trunk….
hedge!
Why Lay a Hedge?
 Offers protection to vast amounts of
wildlife: Dormice, Rabbits, insects etc.
 Immune to vandalism
 Provide shelter for livestock and crops
Dormice
 Can build nests up to 5 meters off the
floor
 Will hibernate for up to 6 months of the
year
 Are extinct in many counties around
Britain and are a protected species
Footpaths and Steps
Foot Paths
 Allows safe passage
 Minimises Erosion
Ponds and Aquatic Life
Ponds
 Provide habitats for many plants and animals
 Natural ponds are not stationary!
 After a while the water will choke up with dead
matter and the water will go somewhere else.
 As it’s not practical for ponds to go some where
else we clean them out by hand.
Areas on Conservation
around Cardiff Worth seeing
Cefn mably
Where can you see all this
Cwm Nofydd
Cath Cobb
The Garth around Cardiff?
Wood
Coryton
Roundabout!
Coed Yr
Felin Wood
Forest Farm
Howardian
Nature Reserve
Grangemoor
Park
Lavernock Point
Summary
 The main aims of Conservation are:
a) To Encourage Biodiversity.
b) Preserve what habitats we already have.
c) Minimise the impact of humans in areas
of natural beauty.
d) To work with nature, not against it.
Thanks for Listening!
Any Questions?