A countryside project for offenders at Parc Cwm Darran has won a national award after turning the park into a wildlife haven over the last 17 years.
It has involved thousands of hours of unpaid work by offenders managed by Wales Community Rehabilitation Company and has been successful in creating valuable wildlife habitats for birds, bats, bugs, newts and hedgehogs.
Community Payback supervisor Maria Harrington and her teams have been carrying out an average of 4,200 unpaid work hours every year at the Green Flag Award-winning country park.
Offenders have fitted bird and bat boxes, created habitats for crested newts and grass snakes, built otter holts along the banks of the River Rhymney and created homes for weasels and other small mammals.
The project has been highly commended in the Outreach category of the National Wildlife Awards.