SUSTAINABILITY

AROUND THE REGIONS
17
Pembrokeshire
Castlemartin
White green-winged orchid © Lynne Houlston
The Pembrokeshire Ranges Conservation
Group (PRCG) is very active across four
ranges in South Pembrokeshire;
Castlemartin, Penally, Manorbier and
Templeton. Experts monitor a wide
variety of species either annually or for
specific National Surveys. Our recent
results have been mixed; some ‘Good’,
some ‘Bad’ and some that start off ‘Ugly’!
‘The Good’
Grey seal Halichoerus gr ypus pups.
Forty-two seal pups were born across
Castlemartin Range in autumn 2014;
our highest record to date. However,
due to some stormy weather losses
were also high at 38%.
Brownslade Orchard. The Orchard
was neglected and overgrown and of
the 27 apple trees present in 2004
only 14 remain. The trees were
planted in approximately 1900 and
provide an amazing habitat to lichens,
insects, badgers and birds. Now, in
2015, the Orchard is thriving with 28
young trees which were graf ted from
cuttings from the original 14. A new
‘cut and remove’ management plan
has been introduced to the
vegetation and the apple trees are
being gently pruned. In the last few
weeks an empt y bee hive has been
placed in the Orchard to tr y and
at tract a swarm from a nearby colony.
Green–winged orchids Orchis morio.
The spring of 2015 saw an amazing
bloom of pink green-winged orchids
near to St Govan’s Chapel. It was the
highest number of orchids in this area
since 2009 and amongst them was our
first recorded white one.
Chough Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax. We
have 12 pairs of chough nesting on
Castlemartin this year which is a 20%
increase on last year. One of our male
breeding chough is about to celebrate
his 21st birthday; having been ringed
when in the nest back in 1994.
‘The Bad ‘
Strandline beetle Nebria complanata.
We recorded our first zero count in
2014; having had in previous years the
largest population in Pembrokeshire. Is
this the end of our gorgeous pink /
brown beach beetle? Another victim of
the winter storms?
And ‘The Ugly’, though
not for long!
Beach clean. A group of volunteers
filled ten 1xton bags with flotsam and
jetsam off Bullslaughter Bay on
Castlemartin Range at Easter. All the
rubbish was taken to the Camp’s waste
sorting station.
Fly-tipping. Fly-tipping has hit
Castlemartin Range three times over
the past few weeks, with beauty spots
being used to dump a mixture of
waste, some of which was hazardous.
This has all been removed.
Petalwort Petalophyllum ralfsii. When
the Militar y told Natural Resources
Wales (NRW ) that they needed to
train with mor tar rounds within the
Site of Special Scientific Interest, they
didn’t expec t a joy ful response. But
NRW had been look ing at ways to
rejuvenate sec tions of the sanddunes
and using mor tars was an
ef fec tive way to do it. The ground
looked like it had chicken pox but
over time it is hoped that petalwor t
will spread into these vegetation
free areas.
Scrambled egg lichen Fulgensia
fulgens. Due to an increase in training
at Castlemartin, sheep grazing in some
areas has been reduced. This has
resulted in a reduction in the lichen
Fulgensia fulgens that enjoys a sandy,
open environment. Members of the
PRCG went out in force with their
garden rakes and forks to help this
lichen and spent a number of hours
scuffng up the surface of the fixed
dunes to remove the vegetation and
expose the sand below.
Templeton Ponds. Following a
request from a member of the PRCG
and funding from ‘Amphibian and
Reptile Conservation’ ten ponds were
scraped out and re-sculptured on
Templeton Range. They look a bit raw
at present but will provide an amazing
aquatic habitat in the near future.
Progress will be monitored.
A very busy year for wildlife, military
and conservationists but because we
all work together we make it happen!
Lynne Houlston
Authority Ranger
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
90
Sanctuary 44 • 2015