Blaenau Gwent Council is to officially designate five new Local Nature Reserves in the county borough.
The Executive Committee has approved the new sites, recognising that these are important to both people and nature.
The sites are:
• Beaufort Hill Ponds & Woodlands
• Central Valley, Ebbw Vale
• Garden City, Ebbw Vale
• Parc Bryn Bach, Tredegar
• Sirhowy Hill Woodlands, Tredegar
The Council committed in its Corporate Plan to improve the access to and quality of open spaces for the benefit of our communities, businesses and visitors. Through the Blaenau Gwent Well-being Plan it is also committed to looking after and protecting the environment, and encouraging and enabling people to make healthy lifestyle choices in the places that they live, learn, work and play.
By designating and declaring five more Local Nature Reserves the Council is acting in line with the approved Biodiversity and Ecosystem Resilience Forward Plan (2019-2022), to meet its duty under the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and maximise its contributions to the Well-being Goals.
Councillor Garth Collier, the Council’s Executive Member for the Environment says:
“I’m delighted that we are able to designate five new sites as Local Nature Reserves. We have some outstanding areas of natural beauty here in Blaenau Gwent, rich in wildlife, habitats and eco systems, and it is important that we recognise these and look after them for everyone to enjoy. We will be working closely with a range of partners and some enthusiastic community groups to preserve these important areas for the benefit of our future generations.”
Note:
A Local Nature Reserve is:
• A Biologically diverse site, where existing features and informed management combine to maximise the value of the site for nature conservation
• A site that all members of the community are able to use and enjoy
• A site that proudly retains its sense of history, at the same time as offering new possibilities as a focus for the community in the local area
• A site that helps develop a sense of the reserve as a special place, of great value to the local area and the wider region