Project Context
Cwm Hesgyn, part of the Rhiwlas Estate is tucked away on the far eastern edge of Snowdonia National Park in Wales. A hill farm where sheep, accompanied by a few cattle, graze 800 hectares of open mountain moor throughout the summer months.
For many years owners Richard and Flora Price have worked with local authorities through environmental enhancement schemes to try and fully restore the health and well-being of this complex mountain ecosystem. No less because the estate lies within the Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA).
The moor is of European significance for breeding populations of Hen Harrier and Merlin. It is also of particular interest for Short-eared Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Black and Red Grouse, Ring Ouzel and Golden Plover. Along with other species, almost all these birds nest on the ground and require specific conditions for nesting, hunting and foraging for food.
Working alongside local conservation organisations and government bodies, in particular, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Richard and Flora have come to have a deep appreciation for the wildlife that live on their estate and want to do all they can to reverse the species decline that has been seen nationally in the last 50-60 years.
The mountain is composed of a mosaic of five different habitat types typical to this part of Wales. 1. Dry Heath – made up of Heathers, Bilberry and other small shrubs. 2. Blanket Bog – wet peatland with Sphagnum Moss, Purple-moor and Cotton Grass. 3. Flush – wet areas where waters flow, with thickets of Purple-moor Grass where Snipe feed. 4. Bracken, which grows tall giving little else a chance to grow, and 5. Acid grassland with a rich mix of grasses and herbs, which the sheep tend to favour over other habitats for grazing.
In recent decades some say that the moors have turned silent, the rich mix of bird species that once occupied the mountains having greatly reduced. Scientists recognise that the bio-phonics of an ecosystem is a very good indication of its overall health, but the reasons why these ecosystems have declined in biodiversity are not so easy to fathom. They are complex and most likely the result of multiple factors.
Some of these factors, speaking in general terms across the British uplands over the last 50-60, include: stocking densities; the use of pesticides and herbicides on land and animals (externally and internally); the management of moors for Grouse shooting; climate change; heath management – burning and cutting; and predation of bird’s nests, in particular by Foxes and Carrion Crows.
Over the years, conservation organisations and government bodies have changed management requirements in attempts to improve habitats. These have included both decreasing and increasing stocking rates, stopping burning and cutting and then encouraging it once more. Together, we are all learning what optimal management really looks like. But we’re not there yet. In the NRW’s assessment of Rhiwlas carried out in 2020, it found that 74% of habitats were still in an unfavourable condition.
These unfavourable conditions are varied and complex, for example, some areas are under-grazed while others are over-grazed. So we begin to see that making decisions about the management of upland landscapes is by no means straightforward.
In 2020 Rhiwlas went into a farmer-led Environmental Management Scheme to carry out work to improve the habitat conditions on the mountain. Flora and Richard, who also share-farm a regenerative dairy, started getting curious about grazing in the mountain and what effect that was having on habitat well-being. So they signed up for the Wilderculture basic training course.
Over the past three years Flora and Richard have brought together a wide range of experts to survey and baseline the ecosystems on Cwm Hesgyn to better understand the complexities of the mountain and how water, wildlife, human led management and livestock grazing intertwine to create the landscapes that we see today.
For many years owners Richard and Flora Price have worked with local authorities through environmental enhancement schemes to try and fully restore the health and well-being of this complex mountain ecosystem. No less because the estate lies within the Migneint-Arenig-Dduallt Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and Special Protection Area (SPA).
The moor is of European significance for breeding populations of Hen Harrier and Merlin. It is also of particular interest for Short-eared Owl, Peregrine Falcon, Black and Red Grouse, Ring Ouzel and Golden Plover. Along with other species, almost all these birds nest on the ground and require specific conditions for nesting, hunting and foraging for food.
Working alongside local conservation organisations and government bodies, in particular, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Richard and Flora have come to have a deep appreciation for the wildlife that live on their estate and want to do all they can to reverse the species decline that has been seen nationally in the last 50-60 years.
The mountain is composed of a mosaic of five different habitat types typical to this part of Wales. 1. Dry Heath – made up of Heathers, Bilberry and other small shrubs. 2. Blanket Bog – wet peatland with Sphagnum Moss, Purple-moor and Cotton Grass. 3. Flush – wet areas where waters flow, with thickets of Purple-moor Grass where Snipe feed. 4. Bracken, which grows tall giving little else a chance to grow, and 5. Acid grassland with a rich mix of grasses and herbs, which the sheep tend to favour over other habitats for grazing.
In recent decades some say that the moors have turned silent, the rich mix of bird species that once occupied the mountains having greatly reduced. Scientists recognise that the bio-phonics of an ecosystem is a very good indication of its overall health, but the reasons why these ecosystems have declined in biodiversity are not so easy to fathom. They are complex and most likely the result of multiple factors.
Some of these factors, speaking in general terms across the British uplands over the last 50-60, include: stocking densities; the use of pesticides and herbicides on land and animals (externally and internally); the management of moors for Grouse shooting; climate change; heath management – burning and cutting; and predation of bird’s nests, in particular by Foxes and Carrion Crows.
Over the years, conservation organisations and government bodies have changed management requirements in attempts to improve habitats. These have included both decreasing and increasing stocking rates, stopping burning and cutting and then encouraging it once more. Together, we are all learning what optimal management really looks like. But we’re not there yet. In the NRW’s assessment of Rhiwlas carried out in 2020, it found that 74% of habitats were still in an unfavourable condition.
These unfavourable conditions are varied and complex, for example, some areas are under-grazed while others are over-grazed. So we begin to see that making decisions about the management of upland landscapes is by no means straightforward.
In 2020 Rhiwlas went into a farmer-led Environmental Management Scheme to carry out work to improve the habitat conditions on the mountain. Flora and Richard, who also share-farm a regenerative dairy, started getting curious about grazing in the mountain and what effect that was having on habitat well-being. So they signed up for the Wilderculture basic training course.
Over the past three years Flora and Richard have brought together a wide range of experts to survey and baseline the ecosystems on Cwm Hesgyn to better understand the complexities of the mountain and how water, wildlife, human led management and livestock grazing intertwine to create the landscapes that we see today.
From an article by Georgia Wingfield-Hayes, available here: A Mountain Apart
