After an absence of many years marsh fritillaries were recorded again at Ynysdawela Nature Park, near Brynamman. Management of the grasslands was undertaken there earlier in the year, as a start to restoring the habitat and improve the long-term management of the site, which will have a management plan written for it eventually.
In addition, this summer, to build on the marsh fritillary habitat assessment and species monitoring that was started in area between Rhydyfro and Brynamman on the Neath Port Talbot side, NRW, LBAP funding is being used to carry out a similar exercise in adjacent sites on the Carmarthenshire side of the county boundary.
We already know of one major marsh fritillary population in Cwmgors, to which a second occupied site was discovered last year. On the Carmarthenshire side, we aim to establish size, strength and functioning of any marsh fritillary metapopulation, in order to target conservation and to inform the planning process. This will also help us consider how the metapopulation here is connected to that in the Cross Hands area.
We now know the marsh fritillary population Carmarthenshire is one of, if not the, most important in Wales so this work is vital to help us ensure that the long-term survival of the butterfly is assured.
From Carmarthenshire Biodiversity Partnership newsletter June to August 2014.
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