Page 10 - Ceufad Autumn 2022

NORTH WALES RESILIENT

ECOSYSTEM PILOT

PROJECT: WE NEED YOU!

North Wales Wildlife Trust (NWWT) have successfully secured Welsh
Government Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 Enabling
Natural Resources and Well-being (ENRaW) scheme funding. This
ambitious, collaborative project covers Conwy, Denbighshire,
Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham to facilitate a more resilient
North Wales.
Part of the project looks to build on the significant progress
made in the River Dee catchment, undertaken via the ORW and EDNA CITIZEN SCIENCE PIL O T
DINNS projects, and complementing the Upper & Middle Dee NNF Over the summer, you may have spotted our team and volunteers
project. Alongside this, we aim continue to raise awareness of out in the River Conwy and the River Dee catchments. We’ve
invasive non-native species (INNS) and biosecurity, while gathering been sampling water from 20 strategic locations per catchment,
evidence for innovative, sustainable ways to tackle INNS via pilot between Capel Curig and Conwy, and from Tryweryn to Chester.
projects, including: Some of the places we’ve visited were stunning, with clear brooks
» eDNA Citizen Science Horizon-Scanning: burbling down the Welsh hillsides. We’ve spotted wildlife including
With the aim of generating a user-friendly, value-for-money, hares, kingfishers, trout and dragonflies.
early-warning method to aid rapid response and so help reduce The Conwy and Dee catchments were selected for the initial
the costs associated with attempting to remove established phase of sampling for this pilot as previous eDNA sampling projects
INNS. Are you part of a Local Action Group (LAG) who are plus live sightings had highlighted the presence of non-native
interested? Get in touch! invasive American Signal Crayfish (Pacifastacus leniusculus) and
» Biosecurity Citizens’ Army: Crayfish Plague at a couple of locations in each catchment. In
Pilot the development of a network of biosecurity champions addition, Chinese Mitten Crab (Eriocheir sinensis) had also been
throughout North Wales, providing them with the skills to recorded. This gave us an ideal set of species and locations to test
train their local community in prevention and biosecurity best eDNA sampling regimes on, to help us model the minimum sampling
practice, increasing resilience to the spread of INNS across required to still get accurate results for similar catchments.
North Wales and beyond. Are you part of a Local Action Group Find out more about how the American Signal Crayfish affects
(LAG) / Community Group who would like to take part? Get in our native crayfish, fish populations and riparian habitats at www.
touch! nonnativespecies.org/non-native-species/information-portal/
» Conservation Grazing: view/2498 .
Chiefly against Himalayan balsam in the Dee catchment. We are We used the Sell2Wales tendering system and selected
looking for land managers and graziers in the area – do get in NatureMetrics as our eDNA kit supply and analysis contractor. Large
touch if interested.
» Angling for Action:
» Supporting the Fishing in Wales project, helping facilitate
the next generation of anglers to experience angling and its
benefits & supporting active river habitat management. Are you
part of a club that would like to be involved? Let us know!

This project includes activities to promote good health, wellbeing
and connectivity/networking of local communities. We aim to
work with volunteers, members of the public, land managers, local
authorities, Rivers Trusts, and sectors such as recreation, health
and businesses, while offering support and training to Local Action
Groups (LAGs) and local Angling Clubs. American Signal Crayfish GBNNSS

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