Credit: Neil Aldridge
Protecting the Gwent Levels
This ancient landscape, rich in culture and important for biodiversity, recreation, flood alleviation, carbon storage and food production, is now facing multiple, adjacent, enormous development proposals.
Tragically, the Gwent Levels is being put under increasing pressure again from developers, with multiple, adjacent, mega solar applications being made in recent years. This is why we are calling upon the Welsh Government to take a clear stand and place a temporary moratorium on major developments in the area while a special planning policy is developed.
The Gwent Levels has been declared “an ancient landscape with a special cultural significance” which is “important for biodiversity, recreation, flood alleviation, carbon storage and food production” by the Welsh Government.
GET INVOLVED
Around 6,000 people from all corners of Wales and beyond signed our petition to ‘Halt Significant Developments on the Gwent Levels SSSI’ - Thank you. This was debated by the Senedd’s Petitions Committee in March 2024.
You can now help us influence decision makers further by signing our e-action open letter.
Campaign so far....
- In March on the same day our petition was debated by the Senedd's Petition Committee more than a hundred campaign supporters attended a peaceful demonstration outside the Senedd.
- In May, the Petitions Committee agreed to write to the Minister for Climate Change about our concerns. It also agreed to propose a Senedd Committee inquiry into our petition request to ‘Halt All Significant Developments on the Gwent Levels SSSI’ and to review Wales’ national development framework ‘Future Wales’ in relation to this.
- Our campaign has the support of leading naturalists and authors such as Iolo Williams, Gillian Burke, Lizzie Daley, Mary Colwell and Julian Hoffman as well as our members, Levels farmers, Friends of the Gwent Levels (FOGL) and other impacted and concerned stakeholders.
Help us Save the Gwent Levels from further fragmentation - sign our open letter and send it to your local Senedd Member (MS) urging them to protect this landscape and to make a stand for nature now.
Add your voice to this campaign by signing the e-action below:
By signing the petition and e-action open letter you can use your voice to speak up for the Levels and tell in those in power to protect the SSSI landscape long term. It also allows you to opt in to hear about the progress of our campaign and other ways that you can support it.
Please help us continue to campaign and protect the Gwent Levels landscape by making a donation or by joining as a member.
Nerys Lloyd-Pierce
Rethink Renewables on the Gwent Levels SSSI
You can't destroy the environment to save the environment read our Planning Manager Mike Webb's blog
Gillian Burke, TV naturalist, on the Gwent Levels. Photo by Victoria Harrison.
Learn more
Listen to Gillian Burke's podcast featuring our Planning Manager Mike Webb, on Solar energy's impact on biodiversity.
Russell Savory
Neil Aldridge
Andy Karran
W.Watson
Blue tailed damselfly (Andy Karran)
WildNet - Gabrielle Horup
WildNet - Margaret Holland
Neil Aldridge
A landscape under threat
The Gwent Levels are an iconic, wetland landscape of International significance. Reclaimed from the sea in Roman times, the Gwent Levels are a criss-crossed network of fertile fields and historic watercourses, known locally as reens.
The Gwent Levels is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife. Gradual changes to the landscape followed by centuries of human's maintenance of the watercourses means that the Gwent Levels is now home to a rich abundance of fascinating and rare aquatic invertebrates (watery bugs) in the country.
The levels also support a wide variety of birds, particularly waders and waterfowl. A number of European protected species and UK protected species have been confirmed to be present, including dormice, grass snake, some bat species, otter, great crested newt and water vole. The charismatic water voles had become locally extinct from the Levels but are now increasing thanks to our reintroduction programme.
Questions and Answers
Why can't we just leave the planning system to decide which development would be appropriate on the Gwent Levels?
- Currently, the Welsh planning system is not able to control development proposals on the Gwent Levels.
- Planning conditions do not grant protection of the Gwent Levels’ wildlife and landscape.
- Objectors need to prove that the development proposals would be damaging. Yet, this is almost impossible to prove. This is because post-development monitoring results are either:
- not available,
- not fit for purpose,
- or not accepted by the Welsh Planning Inspectorate (PEDW).
- Only a Welsh Government halt on development on the Gwent Levels will save them for future generations.
Some of the development proposals are for solar energy - don't we need to fight climate change by building solar farms?
- We are very much in favour of renewable energy development, but it must be in the right place.
- The Gwent Levels is a 'Site of Special Scientific Interest' (SSSI). This is due to the rare species of fauna or flora it contains. The Gwent Levels have high conservation value and need to be protected.
- SSSIs only cover 12% of the land and coastal area of Wales. They play a significant role in combating against the conjoined Nature and Climate Emergencies.
There is more suitable land throughout Wales (including in Gwent) for solar energy development. ‘Priority Areas for Solar’ are set out in the 2019 version of Future Wales: The National Development Framework.
Why can't the wildlife of the Gwent Levels coexist with major development?
- Mitigation or compensation for damage caused by developments are not adequate. CCW have concluded that the unfavourable status of the Gwent Levels SSSI is due to development.
- The only modern post-construction monitoring study contains many methodological flaws. It is therefore difficult to draw firm conclusions from it. However, it does show severe adverse impacts, such as:
- the complete destruction of the breeding colony of lapwings on the site. (Lapwings are a scarce and declining, red-listed bird in Wales).
- a very significant reduction in numbers of other scarce birds and bats in the vicinity of the development.
- Gains in wildlife from solar farms are based on sites which had little or no wildlife value. This is not the case for the fragile and complex wetland ecosystems of the Gwent Levels.
What is an SSSI?
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is an area of land that’s really important to our national, natural heritage because of the rare and important plants and animals that are found on them. These sites are considered to best represent their natural features. They are only a representative sample of the important habitat type found there - so for every SSSI there are more sites with no protection - and so SSSI designated sites must be protected at a high level. This means, for example, that owners must properly manage the site to conserve the wildlife there.
Become a Friend of the Gwent Levels.
The Friends of the Gwent Levels (FOGL) are a grassroots campaigning organisation whose mission is to protect the landscape and biodiversity of the Gwent Levels.
Formed in 2020, they are made up of members of the local community of the Gwent Levels, with the support of a number of existing organisations including Gwent Wildlife Trust and individuals from outside the area who believe strongly in preserving the Levels for future generations.
FOGL are crowd-funding to pay for the legal costs of fighting the numerous damaging developments on the Gwent Levels SSSI. Developers may have the cash to spend on planning and appeals but community group FOGL are not so fortunate,
Get involved with FOGL and support their crowdfunder
Adult lapwing in flight over the Gwent Levels - credit: Jon Hawkins
Help us protect the Gwent Levels now and for future generations
