“Nature and People” launch

A farmer-led community group has launched a project to support the sustainable management of natural resources in the upper Severn catchment of Powys.
The project is being supported through the Welsh Government Rural Communities – Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.
“We are delighted to have been chosen to deliver our project and look forward to working in collaboration with Natural Resources Wales and a wide range of local organisations to achieve our aims,” explains Roche Davies, the chairman of lead organisation Maesmawr Group, who farms at Llandinam.
The initial two-year project, which was successful in the final phase of the Sustainable Management Scheme promoted by Welsh Government, will deliver a range of activities to improve habitats, allow better access by people to the countryside for blue and green benefits – both physical and mental health – as well as implement a range of sustainable land management techniques.
Education is a key driver with a focus on training farming family members across the generations. There will be workshops with experts to ensure land management is carried out with regard to soil health and biodiversity, carbon storage and natural resource flood management. Citizen science is being used along with information from latest technological research projects involving geographical information systems, satellite imagery and meteorology.
Work is being carried out with schools to encourage the next generation to think about the natural world around them and where their food comes from. A series of baseline surveys and monitoring will study how invertebrates, birds, mammals and plants (especially in upland areas) can benefit from new mixed grazing regimes, hedge and tree planting and positive actions to halt and reverse the decline in habitats and species.