Author: Claire Eynon

New Trustees Wanted

29/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

Do you have what it takes to be a Trustee?

We welcome applications from a wide range of people to reflect the diverse make-up of our membership. We are currently looking for new people with financial and legal experience.

Rob Pickford, Chair of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales explains…

Trusteeship – how your skills could help shape the future

I applied to be a Trustee back in early 2013 as I thought I had skills to offer and was encouraged to do so by colleague who was already a Trustee. My professional background was in local government and the civil service in Wales and I brought experience in the fields of governance, partnership working and resource management.

I became Chair in 2014 and am part of an excellent team of Trustees with wide-ranging, varied skills, but above all we are enthusiastic about helping the recovery of nature and about our Wildlife Trust. I do not take the role of Chair lightly. It brings responsibility and along with the other Trustees (all of us are volunteers), we have the ultimate responsibility for the future direction of the Trust. We are grateful that the Trust has an excellent CEO and Senior Management Team to manage the Trust. Working with the wider team of enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff is a real privilege.

Being a Trustee is tremendously rewarding and people from all walks of life and experience have the potential to bring skills that will be beneficial to the Trust. We want to encourage a diverse range of people to consider becoming a Trustee.

We want to reflect the range of communities we work for more effectively. We would also very much like to recruit more younger people to join our Board. We are also keen to recruit new Trustees with financial or legal expertise. So if you think you have skills to offer please get in touch. If you want to find out more before making your decision we would welcome opportunities to talk with you in more detail.

Rob Pickford, Chair

For anyone interested in becoming a Trustee please contact Diana Clark at d.clark@welshwildlife.org or 01656 724100

Annual General Meeting

Save the Date – 15th December 2018

Venue – Parc Slip Wildlife Trust Visitor Centre, Bridgend CF32 0EH

You will find your invitation to attend our 2018 AGM in the autumn edition of the Warbler, along with summary accounts and agenda.

News, Skokholm Island

Have you been to Skokholm yet?

29/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

Our dream island is located two miles off the south west Pembrokeshire coast and is the perfect remote getaway for any wildlife enthusiast!

We currently have overnight stays available on the Island this autumn. So get your stay booked in and live off the grid for a few days.

Here’s some of the things that our island wardens have been getting up to in August…

3rd August:

Although the sea was hidden by mist for the majority of the day, the swell had calmed suitably for a changeover boat which allowed last week’s guests, who had enjoyed an unforeseen extra four nights on the Island, to leave. Morning conditions made birding difficult, but the mist temporarily eased mid-afternoon giving us a quick glimpse of the horizon and providing the perfect opportunity for Katy, our Storm Petrel volunteer, to visit the Storm Petrel productivity sites.

Good conditions for Storm Petrel ringing

The wind conditions this evening are again perfect for another Storm Petrel ringing session in South Haven (the first opportunity we’ve had since last weekend). The team are excitedly setting things up down at the jetty and it will be interesting to see how numbers fare given the less than ideal visibility and the fact that we are now into August (a month when numbers of non-breeding birds visiting the colonies tend to tail off). The session, which will go on until the early hours will provide us with extremely valuable data and also give our new guests a great opportunity to see these magnificent seabirds up close.

Birds logged today included a Cormorant, an adult Peregrine at Crab Bay, 30 Oystercatcher, a Dunlin, four Whimbrel, three Curlew, a juvenile Sand Martin (which was trapped and ringed), seven Swallow, 28 Wheatear, 14 Sedge Warbler, six Chiffchaff, eight Willow Warbler and four Chough.

6th August:

It was an early morning changeover boat today and we welcomed a group of ten enthusiastic volunteers who, for their sins, have agreed to spend the next few days with us digging the silt from North Pond. North Pond is an important part of autumn on Skokholm. Many species of wader drop in during their migration to top up on fuel or rest during bad weather and in the last six years we’ve logged over 30 different species there, including some fantastic Island records such as Long-billed Dowitcher and Avocet.

At the moment, however, North Pond is completely dry.

Digging out the sediment which accumulates during the year encourages the pond to re-wet after the first good autumn rain (due at the weekend!) and thus provides an important habitat for migrant birds. Birds logged today included 60 Gannet, five Cormorant, three Shag, two Buzzard, a Kestrel, two Whimbrel, eight Curlew, a Redshank, 13 Swallow, a Tree Pipit (the first of the autumn), 32 Wheatear, 17 Sedge Warbler, three Chiffchaff, 28 Willow Warbler and nine Chough. It is seemingly the last calm night for a little while, so we have excitedly forfeited sleep once more in order continue with our trapping of adult Storm Petrels down at South Haven, the ninth session of the season.

Last night’s moth trap produced a rather attractive Webb’s Wainscot, a Nationally Scarce species whose larva feed on a variety of water plants. We also trapped the first Scarce Footman of the year, a widespread species but still a pleasure to find in the trap.

Webb’s Wainscot Moth Photo: Giselle Eagle

Scarce Footman Photo: Giselle Eagle

The volunteer team, who are mostly ex-Southampton University Conservation Volunteers, wasted no time before getting stuck in to the North Pond sediment. Quite literally. They’ve already made fantastic progress and it’s only day one! © Giselle Eagle

16th August:

We awoke to a beautiful autumnal day of wild blue seas and sunshine. Ideal weather for seawatching and staff and guests scattered into cliff-top hides to shelter from the strong westerly with a hope that it would push something interesting close to the Island.

Star of the day was the first Sooty Shearwater

Amongst a rather enjoyable sight of, amongst other things, several thousand Manx Shearwater, the star of the day was the first Sooty Shearwater of the autumn which was watched cruising south-west late afternoon from Howard’s End.

In second place was a close-in Arctic Skua which pestered groups of Kittiwakes trying to go about their day in peace. The rest of the day was spent pottering: investigating Lighthouse leaks, changing gas bottles, cleaning the Ringing Hut, sorting several odds and many ends and preparing for a very early changeover boat tomorrow morning.

With the weather too blustery for Storm Petrel mist-netting, our guests are now, under torchlight, being led into the Quarry where hundreds of Storm Petrels can be marvelled at through Skokholm’s unique infra-red set-up.

Other birds logged today included 71 Fulmar, 479 Gannet, four Cormorant, five Shag, two Buzzard, two Water Rail, 25 Oystercatcher, two Whimbrel, two Curlew, one Redshank, 222 Kittiwake, 253 Guillemot, five Razorbill, a Puffin, eight Skylark, a Tree Pipit over Home Meadow, two Robin, 25 Wheatear, six Sedge Warbler, a Whitethroat, four Chiffchaff, 12 Willow Warbler and five Reed Bunting.

To find out more about staying on the beautiful Skokholm Island, visit www.welshwildlife.org/skomer-skokholm/skokholm

News, Skokholm Island, Skomer Island News

Grounded Manx Shearwaters

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales and researchers from Oxford University are asking residents of Wales to look out for one of our most special seabirds, at a time of year when they are very vulnerable to bad weather events.

The Wildlife Trusts’ seabird islands of Skomer and Skokholm, two internationally important nature reserves off the Pembrokeshire coast, are together home to the largest colony of Manx Shearwaters in the world. The two islands are home to some 350,000 pairs of this special burrow-nesting seabird, over half the world’s population of the species.

Manx Shearwaters are related to albatross and like them they are superb flyers, but when on land they move slowly and are easily caught by gulls. To avoid this, they nest in burrows and only come ashore at night.

By September each year, the young birds are leaving their burrows for the first time and preparing to fledge, commencing an epic journey that will take them all the way to the coast of Argentina.

These young birds are inexperienced and therefore vulnerable

Their flight out to sea can be disrupted by bad weather such as strong winds, and sometimes they seem to be attracted to the bright lights on ships and possibly also on the mainland.

This means that at this time of year, it’s not uncommon to come across grounded young Shearwaters on large ships, or on the mainland- a long way from where they should be, disorientated, and incredibly vulnerable to predators that they would never ordinarily encounter.

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales would encourage anyone finding one of these birds to help it if they are able and willing

This is most likely in the hours immediately after strong storms. The very best thing anyone can do for them is to get them back to sea as quickly as possible. If they appear uninjured, the faster they return to sea the better for the bird.

If you find them during the night, and someone is able to get to the coast, release them directly to the sea during the hours of darkness. If you do not find them until daylight, then to avoid them being caught by the gulls or other predators, it is probably best to put them in a box until after dark and then release them in the same way the next night.

They will not need food or water during the day

Safely releasing these birds back into the wild where they can continue their long journey to the southern hemisphere is a real privilege and which can be enjoyed by anyone who finds one stranded. Please just remember, they have sharp bills, and always wash your hands after handling birds.

For further information, or to report grounded birds, contact the Wildlife Trust on info@welshwildlife.org

News

Rainwater Harvesting for dry spells: A forgotten technology

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

With the heatwaves that we’ve had over the last few months we thought it would be a good time to get our sponsors from this year’s RHS, Celtic Sustainables to run another water butt offer especially for you.

Having a water butt in your garden has many benefits, including lowering the demand on mains water supplies and reducing the risk of floods!

Celtic Sustainables explain this in more detail…

The hazy hot days we had in June and July seem like a distant memory now. How quickly the weather changes and our gardens recover. Thank goodness! At one point the dry spell seemed like it was never going to end!

If you are like me, you were probably concerned about wildlife struggling in the heat and ponds drying up, the farmers not having enough grass for their animals, – not to mention your favourite garden plants and whether there was going to be a hosepipe ban.

A hosepipe ban here in Wales, now that would really be something! But here at Celtic Sustainables in Cardigan we were quite taken aback by the increase in people coming into the shop talking about how their springs were drying up and how they are looking for solutions to collect rainwater ready for when it does next rain.

It’s a proven technology but one many of us have forgotten

The Syrians were harvesting rainwater 5,500 years ago.

A water butt or water tank connected to the downpipe from roof guttering will collect rainwater. If it rains hard for 15 minutes you can gather that water and the tanks will be full, otherwise in hot summer conditions, water will just run (or evaporate) off the land and a couple of hours later you won’t even know it has rained.

Rainwater Harvesting is a sensible thing to do

It creates an extra layer of resilience for your garden during prolonged dry spells. It is easy to retrofit downpipe connectors to your guttering and install a water butt next to your house or shed (water butts come in all shapes and sizes nowadays).

We sell quite beautiful water butts here at Celtic Sustainables, in all shapes, sizes and styles – some even come with integral planters so you don’t loose any planting space.

We also sell rainwater harvesting systems

So, if you need any advice about larger systems (1500L to 30,000L and more) for your home, smallholding or farm we can help too. We have a team of rainwater harvesting experts and a range of pump controllers that will fit just about any situation. Simply call or contact us by email (01239 777009, sales@celticsustainables.co.uk).

If you are interested in purchasing a water butt, please do check out this offer it will help the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales too.

Water Butt Offer:

10% off all 3P Technik Decorative Water Butts plus we’ll donate £5 to the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales for each water butt sold AND you still get Free Delivery to mainland UK addresses!

Go to: www.celticsustainables.co.uk/water-butts/

Use Coupon Code “WILDTEN” at the checkout.

Offer ends on the Autumn Equinox: 23-September-2018

Morag
Water Team
Celtic Sustainables, Cardigan, SA43 1EW

News, Volunteer Stories

Volunteering by Geoff Powell

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

I’m a life member, regular volunteer and volunteer warden with The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. You might have heard of our glorious Pembrokeshire island of Skomer, because Skomer’s thriving puffin population was in the news in July. Researchers are trying to discover why the Skomer puffins are doing so well compared with declining populations elsewhere. And it’s not just our puffins that are doing well: water voles and dormice are thriving on some of our reserves, and with our help red squirrels are making a come-back in Mid-Wales, among many other successes.

We own and manage a wide range of reserves including islands, woodlands, wetlands and grasslands across the southern regions of Wales from the Pembrokeshire islands in the west to the reserves of Brecknockshire in the east. We even own a castle and a lighthouse!

What Geoff’s Volunteering Work Involves

I became a member of the Trust in 1984 and work on the Ceredigion reserves twice a week with work-parties led by our Wildlife Trust Officer, Em Foot. Most of the work is with hand tools and involves maintaining fences and gates to keep grazing livestock in and rogue animals out.

Other work includes managing woodland to encourage young trees to grow so that those woods have a future, removing scrub encroachment on our grasslands and wetlands, often using a hefty tool optimistically called a ‘tree popper’. Keeping access paths clear, controlling unwelcome species like brambles, Himalayan balsam and bracken, removing ragwort from reserves where there is grazing and periodic surveys of orchids, deer signs, gulls and caterpillars.

Why Geoff Volunteers with The Trust

If asked why I volunteer with The Wildlife Trust, I could say it’s because I enjoy the company, the outdoor work and the biscuits that Em provides (always palm-oil free!), all of which is true, but the underlying reason is, of course, deeper and more serious. The natural world is in crisis, as indicated by the sudden collapse of normally common species, and this alarming fact is simply impossible to ignore.

Changes in the climate and in farming over recent decades have conspired to make much of the British countryside a hostile place for wildlife.

Geoff’s Background

I grew up in an English county long given over to intensive farming, where by the 1970s profit-driven industrialised agriculture was pursued ruthlessly without the least regard for the environment. Already denuded of hedgerows, Dutch elm disease then ravaged the last remnants of woodland in the landscape.

So it was a huge relief 37 years ago to move to West Wales, where I had family connections, and to take up residence in a little house in six acres of woodland in a lovely valley, on a little river with otters and dippers – paradise! But even in paradise biodiversity is in decline, a decline that The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales is in the business of fighting by raising public awareness, promoting the cause of conservation in both the countryside and the marine environment, and managing its numerous reserves for maximum biodiversity.

Marsh Fritillary Butterflies

My personal interest is in a reserve near where I live, a rhos pasture of marshy grassland and a Site of Special Scientific Interest where I am the volunteer warden. The site is grazed by cattle to maintain the right conditions for Devil’s Bit Scabious and three species of orchid, and to provide a suitable sward height for the Marsh Fritillary, a European-wide endangered butterfly whose caterpillars feed on the scabious.

Historically the reserve is an excellent site for the fritillary, but 11 years ago the population crashed, probably due to a parasitic wasp attacking the caterpillars and a very wet summer which prevented the surviving adults from breeding successfully. This year, however, things are looking up: 5 butterflies were seen there in June raising hopes of the beginning of a come-back for this gem of a butterfly.

Volunteer with The Wildlife Trust

If you’re interested in volunteering with the trust you can find more information here. Alternatively call us on 01656 724100

Living Seas, News

Living Seas Wales – My Wild Summer

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

Since the launch of the Living Seas Wales project and exciting ‘Sea Wales’ 7D augmented reality experience we’ve been touring the south and west Wales coast with our roadshow!

The Living Seas team have taken these incredible marine experiences to various places along the Welsh coast, and we’re not done yet! The project is now heading around the north Wales coast to reach out to even more people!

So far we’ve raised awareness of Wales’s beautiful marine wildlife and how everyone can help to conserve it to over 3,500 people!

Grace Gavigan was one of the incredible volunteers and joined the roadshow while it toured through south and west Wales. She has written a lovely article about her wild summer…

Wow! That is the only word that I could use to describe my experience of volunteering with The Wildlife Trusts Living Seas Wales (LSW) team on their exciting 2018 Roadshow!

The LSW team and volunteers were easy to talk to and were all super friendly, they were like a second family to me this summer. My favourite team member was Finn, the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre’s (CBMWC) Dolphin mascot. 🙂

The LSW Roadshow provided lots of fun activities for visiting families, including the awesome virtual reality experience Dolphin Dive and the new Sea Wales 7D augmented reality experience. Other activities organised included Seashore safari’s, beach cleans and rock pooling. These activities helped increase my knowledge and understanding of our beautiful Welsh coastline and waters. They have inspired me to take action to protect our Seas!

The Roadshow attended numerous locations along the Wales Costal Path. My favourite destination was the final stop on the southern Roadshow tour; Cardigan Bay, New Quay. Whilst there I was lucky enough to spot two of the semi-resident Bottlenose Dolphins; Jacky and her calf Jay less than 100 yards off the side of the Harbour Wall.

It was amazing to meet and chat with so many people about the marine wildlife that we have here in Wales and to try out the cool virtual experiences.

The roadshow will head up North to continue its tour of the Wales Costal Path, if you are visiting North Wales within the next two weeks be sure to check it out, you won’t regret it!

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for Living Seas Wales and look forward to volunteering again in the future.

Thank you Living Seas Wales and to The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, also good luck to the team from North Wales Wildlife Trust

-Grace Gavigan, age 12

Find out more about the Living Seas Wales team

500 Club winners

August 500 Club Winners

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

The lucky winners in the 500 club for August are:

1st 68 Mr J L Jones

2nd 438 Mrs Vicky Pearson & Dr Mary O ’Reagan

3rd 3 Ms Denise Cross & Mr William Hughes

News

The Glamorgan Naturalists’ Trust

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

Naturalists’ Trust Reserves in Gower 1968

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales has been in existence since April 2002 and was formed by merger of Wildlife Trust West Wales and Glamorgan Wildlife Trust but it has a long history of protecting wildlife which started before the Second World War in Pembrokeshire.

Glamorgan County Naturalists’ Trust (GCNT) was founded in January 1961. In 1984, following the county of Glamorgan being split into West, Mid and South, the GCNT changed its name to the Glamorgan Trust for Nature Conservation (GTCN) and then in 1987 to The Glamorgan Wildlife Trust.

The Naturalists Trust Reserves in Gower pamphlet, was kindly donated by one of our volunteers Alice Greenlees. Naturalists Trust Reserves Gower 1968.

The Pamphlet is 50 years old this year and highlights 7 reserves on Gower the trust owned in 1968. We still own and manage these reserves (plus others acquired after 1968) 50 years later

These sites are open to the public today

Although in 1968 you had to be a member of the trust to access Ilston Quarry and Gelli hir.

In the last 50 years there has been vast changes to the countryside and wildlife in Britain. Looking at our reserves 50 years ago compared with today they continue a haven for wildlife, and preserving examples of rapidly dwindling habitats.

There have been changes

For example in Gelli hir 50 years ago, the reserve contains examples of both types of native Gower deciduous woodland, Ash/Elm to the north and west and Birch/Oak to the south and east.

Today there are no large elm trees in Gelli hir, they have been struck down by Dutch elm disease in the 1970s and 1980s, and looking forward 50 years will there be any Ash trees left in Gelli hir? Ash dieback (Hymenoscyphus fraxineus) is a disease of ash trees that has been seen on our reserves on Gower. It first was seen in Britain in 2012 the forestry commission say

‘’We do know that the disease has potential to cause significant damage to the UK’s ash population’’.

I’m looking forward to WTSWW managing these reserves (and others) for the next 50 years and making these sites richer in wildlife for everyone to enjoy.

See the website for more information on our Gower Reserves

Ceri Evans Reserves officer

Jobs, News

We’re getting ready to recruit again soon!

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales will soon be on the look out to hire another wildlife enthusiast!

We will be recruiting for a People and Wildlife Officer to cover Cardiff.

Keep an eye on our website for all the details coming soon.

News

Wilder Wales

24/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

We want a greener, healthier and happier Wales

We have an exciting opportunity to make changes to land policy in Wales and create a future where people and wildlife can thrive together.

This comes at a critical time; we’ve seen 56% of our wildlife and habitats decline; one in ten of our plants and animals are facing extinction. We must act now to reverse this damage and create a Wales that’s bursting with nature for future generations.

Speak up for nature and tell Welsh Government you want a land policy that protects wildlife and the environment. For the link in Welsh click here.

What does a wilder Wales look like?

Wouldn’t you love to live in a world where the air is cleaner, our homes and buildings are greener and seeing a hedgehog is an everyday experience. This is not a pipe dream – with the right investment and changes in policy – this can be the future we give to our children.

Wilder, greener cities
We need to bring nature back to our cities. By replacing concrete with green roofs, green walls, pocket parks and planting more trees and flowers we can bring wildlife back into everyone’s daily lives.

Find out more

Nature-friendly farming
We need farming and conservation to go hand in hand. By creating space for nature on farmland and stopping pollution, we can bring back healthy populations of pollinators like bees and butterflies, clean up polluted rivers, streams and lakes and restore important habitats.

Find out more

Living seas
We need to protect our seas and restore fish stocks. By fishing sustainably and creating protected areas of the sea, fish stocks can improve, and marine life can flourish. We also need a better market in Wales for local, sustainably caught fish.

Find out more

Restored habitats
We need to restore and improve important habitats like peatlands, meadows and heathlands. If healthy, these habitats will help reverse the decline in wildlife, reduce flooding and store carbon.

Thriving wildlife
We need to create a connected, nation-wide network of habitats. By creating new wildlife corridors animals can move freely and thrive alongside us.

Why is it important?

Nature depends on us, and we depend on nature. We need to invest time, effort and money into bringing wildlife back for the sake of our health and happiness.

Health

A healthy environment gives us the basic things that we need to be healthy: clean air and water, nutritious food and healthy lifestyles.

Happiness

Research across the world has shown that being in wild, green spaces, connecting with nature, is good for our mental health. It can improve our mood, reduce feelings of depression and anxiety, relieve stress and improve confidence and self-esteem.

Safety

If we let nature recover it can help us adapt to things like climate change and a growing population. It can help us reduce flooding, shade us from the hot sun and it can absorb carbon.

Prosperity

Our natural resources support our economy in Wales. Some of our key industries are tourism, renewable energy, agriculture, forestry and construction. By investing in the environment and managing these precious natural resources sustainably we can grow our economy and create more jobs across Wales.

How you can help

The most important thing you can do before 30 October 2018 is respond to the Welsh Government Brexit and Our Land consultation.

We’ve made it simple for you to respond – you can use our standard letter and make it personal to you.

Respond today

In Welsh Respond here

Badger Vaccinations, News

Badger vaccination resumes in Llandeilo

22/08/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales has just completed a third year of badger vaccination in its Castle Woods nature reserve, Llandeilo.

The steep woodlands of Castle Woods are home to a large number of badger setts, and rare breed cattle graze on the adjacent pasture land, including along the fertile Tywi valley.

Vaccination of the Castle Woods badgers began in 2014, when thirty four animals were inoculated against bovine tuberculosis (bTB) using an injectable BCG vaccine. The exercise was repeated in 2015, before having to be suspended on account of a global vaccine shortage.

Vaccines became available in 2018

Vaccine became available again in 2018, and thanks to support from the Welsh Government, as well as donations from the Wildlife Trust’s own members and supporters, the programme has been able to recommence this month.

The work at Castle Woods will help to protect the resident badger population against the disease, and contribute to the benefits of the many other cattle-based and farm biosecurity measures already in place to help protect cattle in the local area from TB.

WTSWW is working in partnership with EcoCon, a badger vaccination specialist, to deliver this work. EcoCon offer nationwide contract badger vaccination services to the agricultural and environmental sectors.

Dr Lizzie Wilberforce, Conservation Manager for The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, said

“It’s fantastic to be able to re-start this important programme. The Wildlife Trusts have long campaigned against badger culling as an effective solution to TB in cattle, and this piece of work makes us part of an alternative solution.”

She added:

“We believe strongly in the importance of a viable agricultural sector, and we rely heavily ourselves on cattle, for the management of our own land holding. It’s incredibly important that we tackle the problem of bovine TB. However, badgers in Wales are a crucial part of our ecosystem; they are our largest remaining terrestrial carnivore, and an iconic feature of our shared environmental heritage that needs to be protected and preserved. The work we are doing in Castle Woods is one step towards making both of these a reality.”

Rebecca Killa, the Wildlife Trust’s Carmarthenshire Officer, who was also involved in the programme, said

“This has been a brilliant project so far, it feels great to be doing something to help protect these fascinating animals and be part of a more humane solution to bTB.”

Donations can be made by phone by calling 01656 724100 and asking to donate to the Badger Appeal.

News

Principality Puffins Rugby keep winning (and adopting!)

31/07/2018 Claire Eynon Comment

The Principality Puffins touch rugby team was set-up in 2015 and from the very start made a commitment to adopt a Wildlife Trust’s Skomer Island Puffin for every win they achieved in the WRU Summer Leagues.

They now have three teams, including a Puffins Homeless Rugby Team which consists of players from the School of Hard Knocks, Crisis Cymru and The Wallich, along with staff members from Principality Building Society and other players from organisations like BT and BBC Wales.

The Puffins team won 10 games this season and qualified for the playoffs in two divisions, and as a result will adopt 10 Skomer Island Puffins, bringing their ‘rugby running’ total to 40 adoptions since 2015.

James Harper, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Principality Building Society and Puffins Head Coach, said

“It’s been another action packed season for the Puffins rugby team and we are very proud of the way in which the great sport of rugby can be used to make a positive difference to communities and to the conservation of such a wonderful sea bird. We wanted our rugby activities to be community focused and whenever we tell opposing sides about our Puffin adoptions it puts a big smile on faces.

It’s nice to win 10 games and nicer still to think that each win will go some way into protecting one of the biggest Puffin colonies in Britain. The educational packs also get donated to local schools and it’s lovely to know that future generations are getting to find out about the amazing work being done by The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales too.”

Rebecca Vincent, Marketing and Communications Officer for The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales said

“We’re absolutely delighted to continue to receive support from the principality puffins. Their contribution will go towards our vital conservation work and research on the island to safeguard these species for the future. GO PUFFINS”

Find out more about the different ways in which you can help support the work of The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales or to adopt a wildlife species.