Wales environment News

Eleven 'Coronation Meadows' have been announced in Wales by Prince Charles.

He's selected sixty sites from across the UK to be preserved. Over the sixty years of the Queen's reign more than ninety percent of our wild flower meadows have been lost.

It's hoped the move will help protect native plants that are at risk of dying out. David Wood reports from one of our coronation meadows - Newgrove in Monmouthshire.

• UK
• Environment
• Prince Charles

• UK
• Environment
• Prince Charles

Prince Charles is set to unveil sixty 'coronation meadows' as part of efforts to conserve flower-rich grasslands across the UK. Eleven of the special sites are in Wales.

Most of the meadows can trace an undisturbed history back to before the coronation, some for hundreds of years.

The UK has lost 97% of its wild flower meadows since the 1930s, hitting plant species and the wildlife that relies on them. The project aims to map the pockets of flower-rich meadows that still remain across the country.

Under the plans, the coronation meadow will be a 'donor' site, with hay and seed collected and used to restore or create new meadows nearby.

This process will conserve the local characteristics of grasslands in each area.

The sites in Wales include Cae Blaen-dyffryn in Carmarthenshire where thousands of lesser butterfly-orchids bloom and the New Grove meadows in Monmouthshire where green-winged orchids and waxcap fungi flourish.

• UK
• Environment
• Prince Charles

An environment body in Wales says its taking urgent action after surveys showed that a disease which kills larch trees is spreading. The fungus-like pathogen was discovered in the Afan Valley three years ago and had infected trees in around 3,000 hectares.

Around 1,300 hectares of larch trees have now been cut down in a bid to keep the disease in check and limit the damage. However aerial surveys conducted by Natural Resources Wales reveal it has spread to other parts of Wales, in particular the South.

A further 1,800 hectares are showing signs of infection say experts who are now carrying out ground checks to confirm if the trees are diseased.

John Browne of Natural Resources Wales said, “When we get the test results from our laboratories, we’ll reconsider the scale of these operations and what we need to do to get on top of the disease."

Visitors to woodlands can help reduce the spread of the disease by taking some simple actions such as removing any mud, plant material or leaves from clothing, boots, dogs and car tyres.

• UK
• Environment
• Larch

The number of Welsh beaches awarded the prestigious Blue Flag status has fallen by 10 in the last year. Rest Bay at Porthcawl was one of the 33 to meet the exacting standard.

Keep Wales Tidy says the fall's down to it applying a "stricter" Bathing Water Directive.

The Natural Resources Minister, Alun Davies AM, says the quality threshold to achieve Blue Flag status is higher than ever before.

• UK
• Environment

Keep Wales Tidy, which runs the Blue Flag Award system in Wales, says the fall in the number of beaches recognised for cleanliness and environmental management is down to it applying "stricter" Bathing Water Directive this year.

This is the first year that we as Natural Resources Wales will have the responsibility of testing the 100 designated Welsh bathing waters. All of the samples collected in Wales will now be analysed in Wales at our laboratories in Llanelli, securing the highly skilled jobs there.

"We all know that the record rainfall had an impact on water quality last year, but what is encouraging is that despite this and the higher standards introduced, 90% of beaches are projected to be classed as Good and 68% as Excellent in 2015.

As a result of the work we are doing to improve water quality and hopefully, with better weather this summer, more people will have an opportunity to enjoy the clean water and fantastic beaches we have in Wales.

• UK
• Environment

A ceremony will be held at Rest Bay in Porthcawl to celebrate the country's cleanest beaches.

Thirty-three have been awarded prestigious Blue Flag status, ten fewer than last year.

• UK
• Environment

Beaches in Wales had more rubbish found on them than in previous years according to a new survery. The annual Beachwatch Big Weekend report by the Marine Conservation Society found that 112 plastic bottles were found for every kilometre surveyed.

Overall the amount of plastic had increased by 3%. Our Correspondent Joanna Simpson went to Ogmore to find out more.

• UK
• Environment

There has been an increase in the amount of litter found on Welsh beaches, according to figures released by the Marine Conservation Society. Last September volunteers spent the weekend picking up rubbish at 45 beaches across Wales. The litter picked up in a single weekend filled 223 bags.

Plastic now accounts for 74% of all the litter found washed up on the beach, and in Wales the amount was 10% higher than the UK average. The charity says that the fact that plastic is unlikely to break down is even more concerning.

"We must hammer home the message that litter is completely unacceptable. The number of opportunities provided by local authorities to dispose of litter have never been greater. So it's hard to understand why people think its ok to rubbish the coastline of Wales"

Lynn Eyles, spokesperson for the Marine Conservation Society.

• UK
• Environment

Members of Wales' first electric car club have taken to the roads for the first time. Cilgwyn Community Group will share the new Nissan Leaf as part of a community transport scheme. They were able to buy the car thanks to a £25,000 grant from the Big Lottery Fund's Village SOS programme.

• UK
• Newport
• Cilgwyn