What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is a shortened form of two words: biological diversity. It refers to the variety and abundance of all life on earth!

Biodiversity includes the whole spectrum of species found on earth, from the most common to the rarest. It includes insects and mammals, fungi and trees and fish to birds as well as the habitats in which the species live - whether they are woodlands, grasslands, salt marshes or rivers.

New!

Download and read the Newport Biodiversity autumn 2012 newsletter (pdf)

Current projects

Current projects around Newport include:

Gaer Fort management

Gaer Fort is an historic landscape which would have previously been covered in heather. However, bracken and trees have encroached onto the fort and the majority of the heather has been lost.

The aim of this project is to manage the bracken on parts of the fort to allow heather to re-establish itself and so maintaining a mosaic habitat providing a valuable home for reptiles, birds, butterflies, moths and mammals.

Winter Bird Feeding

A joint project between 5 local authorities in south Wales and Gwent Wildlife Trust.

Areas of land are sown with a mixture of seed containing sunflowers, kale, quinoa and wildflowers to supply farmland birds in particular with a food source during the winter months.

The project was repeated this year and a of five sites have been sown with the seed mixture including Ridgeway viewing point, land to the rear of Panasonic, Christchurch viewing point, land adjacent to Duffryn Wood and Maesglas landfill.

Nineteen Hills Wetland Creation, Ringland

A grant was obtained through the Veolia Trust to undertake habitat creation and improvements at a flood-prone site in Ringland.

A wetland area has been created with improvements to the footpath allowing easier access.

Shrill Carder Bee project

Working in collaboration with Gwent Wildlife Trust and Bumblebee Conservation Trust an area of farmland is being managed for bumblebees, in particular the Shrill Carder Bee, on the Gwent Levels.

The Shrill Carder Bee is found in only 6 locations around Britain and the Gwent Levels in Newport is a hotspot for the species.

Wildlife Symbols – coming Summer 2013

A new set of Wildlife Symbols will be located at St Julian’s Park which will show the different wildlife that can be found there. This is a pilot scheme that we hope to roll out to other Wildlife areas in Newport. There will also be QR Codes on the signs that you can scan with your smart phone to access further information on the wildlife in that area.

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