Dŵr Cymru’s Environment Fund has distributed a total of £3m of funding for environment projects across Wales and is open for applications.
The fund provides financial support for projects that benefit biodiversity and nature with a focus on helping foster community engagement with the local environment.
Welsh Water is calling on environment projects from across Wales to apply and to make the most of money that is available through fund.
One project that has benefited from funding is based in Trimsaran, where members of the local community, schoolchildren from Ysgol Gymunedol Trimsaran and the Dŵr Cymru biodiversity team came together to create a flowering meadow that will become a focal point for the village’s community centre.
Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water is calling on environment projects from across Wales to make the most of money that is available through their Environment Fund.
The fund, which aims to provide financial support for projects that benefit biodiversity and nature has already reached a significant milestone, having invested over £3m to date on a wide variety of projects with a focus on helping foster community engagement with their local environment.
This includes a recent project in Trimsaran, where members of the local community, schoolchildren from Ysgol Gymunedol Trimsaran and the Dŵr Cymru biodiversity team came together to create a flowering meadow that will become a focal point for the village’s community centre.
For Trimsaran Community Councillor Mari Arthur, the funding from Dŵr Cymru’s Environment Fund has supported the community with their outdoor biodiversity projects, and it is hoped it will also have a longer-term impact. She said, "The Dŵr Cymru team involved the village school's eco committee in a planting and seeding day, and the children enjoyed getting involved and felt ownership of the areas they helped develop.
“The works to date have already made a big difference to the park, which is at the heart of this deprived community. Place-making is so important, and we appreciate Dŵr Cymru's support."
Dŵr Cymru are also actively working to boost biodiversity at their sites across the country, with recent projects starting to have a noticeable impact on their surrounding ecology.
This includes a ‘green hay’ wildflower meadow project at their Llys-y-frân visitor centre in Pembrokeshire. Planted two years ago with seeds sourced from the National Botanical Gardens of Wales, and with the help of local volunteers from the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, the site has seen an increase in native species.
Peter Haskett, a ranger who has been an instrumental part of the project, said, “Llys-y-frân is an important part of the local community. A big part of what we’re trying to do is to improve biodiversity, along with nature and wildlife in general.
“We did our first surveys this year after the initial planting, with positive results. We’re getting a reduction in grass species and an increase in wildflowers, insects and pollinators, which also attracts more bird species and so forth.
“We’re hopeful that in time people will be able to come here and have cuttings of the green hay for their own wildflower projects at home, just as we were able to from the National Botanic Gardens of Wales, so that in the longer term there will be a much wider community benefit far beyond Llys-y-frân.”
Groups and non-profits are now being urged to make sure they benefit from the funding that is on offer and help boost nature in their local areas.
Further information on Dŵr Cymru’s Environment Fund can be found online here.