It was a great opportunity for me to attend the
LIFE+ project conference during the very onset of my studies at the University
of Bangor. The 3 days conference was started on October 9. Indeed it was a thrilling
experience for me to attend a conference on the Wale’s wetlands, which I have never
seen and experienced before. Hence, my keen interest to learn many new
aspects regarding wetlands in Wales raised the excitement about that conference
to me.
The First day (9th of October, 2013)
The first day of the conference
was started with the registration procedure and Justin Hanson’s LIFE+ project introduction
speech followed by the first talk from Peter Jones. Jones gave very lucid introduction about fens
of the Wales and he also highlighted on the aim of their project and how they managed
to achieve their targets. Then comes the most spell bounding part of that day
for me. That was a project history presentation given by John Ractcliffe. In
reality, I never used to pay much attention toward history talks earlier but for
the first time I was enjoying that talk and that was surprising for me.
Second part of the presentation was
about practical managements including biomass cropping and grazing management adopted
by the LIFE+ project members to make the project successful. It was a huge chance
for me to learn new ideas about the Wales practical management practices.
After lunch we went to visit the Cors Goch National Nature Reserve, which is managed by the North Wales Wildlife Trust. Cors
Goch is known as one of the nationally important series of calcareous fens on
Anglesey. It is also the best example of an undisturbed fen of the Wales. For me it was impressing to see how
efficiently North Wales Wildlife Trust has restored that area despite having several
encroachments in the past. Their efforts to conserve the nature reserve are
very commendable. As a result of successful restoration of this reserve, it is
now rich in biodiversity including common reed, great fen sedge, blunt flowered rush,black bog rush, orchids, insectivorous plants, stone warts, dragonflies, leeches etc.
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Ecors Goch National Nature Reserve |
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Myself |
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Floral diversity within the Reserve including Juncus and Myrica gale |
Inspite of terrible weather 2
hours visit of the reserve was very fruitful for me and created waves of
excitements and eager to learn more about temperate wetlands.
The second day
The Second day was as exciting as
the first day of the conference. On this day we had a chance to explore more conservation
areas. The day was started with few presentations focusing various aspects of
wetlands management. Then we went to visit Cors Erddreiniog National Nature Reserve in the morning and Cors Bodeilio National Nature Reserve in the afternoon.
For me it was the most exciting to
visit Nant Isaf Farm and at the same time experiencing the constructed wetland
in the Cors Erddreiniog. I got to know that the Cors Erddreiniog is a large fen
rich site on Anglesey. It is also considered as a special area of conservation
- site of special scientific interest and National Nature Reserve. Both the LIFE+
project and Natural Resource Wales have undertaken a mega scale restoration
program in this reserve for the restoration of alkaline fen communities.
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| Cors Erddreiniog National Reserve Map |
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Cors Erddreiniog National Nature Reserve |
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Floral Diversity |
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Fen |
As result of successful restoration
program along with the hydrological and ecological monitoring, now the fen has showing
indicative species of calcareous and at the same time water retention time of
the area has increased.
After spending the half-day at the
restoration site, we moved towards another field i.e. Cors Bodeilio. In Cors
Bodeilio we had an opportunity to observe the water connections within the area
and nutrient stripping during the boardwalk. Really it was an unforgettable
day.
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Cors Bodeilo National Reserve Map |
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Cors Bodeilio National Nature Reserve |
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Water Connection |
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Board walk within the Reserve |
The last day
Finally, comes the last day of the
conference. On this day I was expecting to have much more fun since we were
supposed to visit many other fields. We started the day with few but very good presentations.
Among others, Nina Menichino’s presentation was attracting my attention much,
as my research interests are quite similar to her present research. The way she
managed to relate vegetation harvesting and gaseous response was interesting. Along
with that, I was also impressed by the presentation given by Mike West. His
presentation was focused on the constructed wetlands’ nutrient intercepting. Moreover, I must say that Dyfed Jones idea
about rewetting of peat lands was fetching to me.
Unfortunately, my health was not
good at the last day and as a result, I missed the field trip to Cors Geirch National Natural Reserve.
Although the conference is over,
the knowledge I got from this conference in the context of Wale's wetlands will
be milestone for my further project development and studies.
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