Wetlands areas, important for wildlife and the environment, are set to be protected further due to a new project between Caerphilly County Borough Council and Environment Agency Wales.
The Government body has said sites for key wetland habitats, including ponds, wet woodland and marsh, have been lost and are becoming isolated from each other because of development, pollution and changes in land management.
Caerphilly is one of nine local authorities in south east Wales being helped to protect its wetlands through a £30,000 collaborative fund. Each council will develop its own project to identify and protect its wetland.
Environment Agency Wales’ lead officer Becky Davies said: “By restoring these wetland sites lost and helping to link these habitats back together we are looking to create green corridors through which wildlife can move about and flourish. We will also be mapping these new habitats to learn more about how we can help species move about throughout south Wales.
“The projects may seem small-scale individually but they’re really important as together they will substantially improve wetlands within south east Wales and will show what can be achieved even within a more urbanised setting. We expect this landscape scale initiative to deliver around three hectares of new, and eight hectares of restored or improved wetland habitats. The gaps between fragmented habitats will be made smaller.”