Collaborating across the landscape in the Einion and Llyfnant catchments

In this guest blog, Cian Llywelyn of Coetir Anian, a charity which manages a site a few miles south of Machynlleth, explains how farmers and nature conservation groups are working together to link up habitats around one of the ‘buffer zones’ of the Biosphere. Darllen yn Gymraeg

Volunteers at Bwlch Corog Image: Mike Kay

Nature conservation works best when farmers and other land managers work together over a landscape, joining up and creating larger areas of habitat that can support more species by providing greater opportunity to find food, mates and appropriate breeding grounds. This will be an important aim of the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Farming Scheme which will be coming in over the next few years.

Now land managers across the valleys of two of the Dyfi’s tributaries, the Einion and the Llyfnant, have formed a new group to do that. Led by local charity Coetir Anian, the group has called itself Cwmwd Einion and is centred around Pen Carreg Gopa a Moel Hyrddod Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which is one of the buffer zones of the Dyfi Biosphere – somewhere where nature is protected and is also used for education, research and leisure.

Expanding woodlands to connect habitats is an important goal for the project

The land managed by members of the group is a mosaic of different habitats and land uses. There are woodlands, peatlands, ffriddoedd (upland fringe pasture) and grasslands across sheep farms, cattle farms and land managed for nature by RSPB Ynys-hir and Coetir Anian. Some of the land is protected under SSSI status, some of it benefits from schemes such as Welsh Government’s Habitat Wales and Woodland Creation Schemes designed to help landowners make their land more nature-friendly, some is managed organically, and some is farmed ‘conventionally’.

These different types of land use and designations provide varied opportunities for nature, for income generation and for developing ecosystem services such as  water management and carbon sequestration, but each also poses its own particular management challenges. By working together, members of the group are able to share knowledge, skills and experience, and benefit from schemes which support partnership work. It is hoped that this will help each of the partners financially at a time when things are particularly uncertain for farmers and for charities, while protecting wildlife and joining up habitats that are fragmented across different land holdings and SSSIs – both within the partnership and around it.

Cwmwd Einion has recently appointed a local freelancer to the new role of Ceidwad y Mynydd (which translates most closely as Upland Keeper or Warden), who will work across the land holdings for the next two years to support sustainable farming and habitat restoration, undertaking work such as habitat management, fencing, stock management, tree planting and sapling care. This is an exciting development for the group, as it signifies a clear progression from planning and preparation to tangible action on the ground.

Cwmwd Einion was developed under  Welsh Government’s Integrated Natural Resources Scheme (INRS), which is being used to inform the collaborative element of the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) – Wales’ new system of land management payments due to begin in 2026 – and is now being  implemented with funding from a Nature Networks Fund grant. It is hoped that the SFS will in due course allow Cwmwd Einion to continue beyond its initial two-year phase, and that the project will inspire and inform similar collaborative projects in future.

Coetir Anian is a local charity which aims to restore habitats and species and connect people with wildlife and wild places. We began management of Bwlch Corog in 2017, a 142 hectare parcel of land near Glaspwll, when it was purchased by Coed Cadw / Woodland Trust and leased to us long term. Since then, we have been restoring its varied habitats to favourable condition for nature and bringing as many people onto the land as possible to help restore society’s connection with nature. This includes local primary and secondary schools, and charities working with disadvantaged groups – people who are likely to gain most from spending time in nature but who are also likely to be unable to access wild places.

Volunteers are a vital part of Coetir Anian – if you’re interested in what we do and would like to be involved, please take a look at our volunteering page, or get in touch by emailing post@coetiranian.org. You can find out more about Coetir Anian on our website, or by following us on Instagram, Facebook, X or LinkedIn.