Forty attendees at an Ancient Trees Day

Forty people attended a day on ancient trees held at Gelli Aur, Llandeilo on Wednesday, 7^th October by kind permission of Coleg Sir Gâr. The guest speakers were Ted Green of the Ancient Tree Forum, along with Ray Woods of Plantlife. The event was staged by the South Wales branch of the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG Cymru) and was mainly funded by the Woodland Trust/Coed Cadw with a contribution from the Countryside Council for Wales.

The audience comprising farmers, students and numerous representatives of other organisations were enraptured by a wealth of information delivered in an entertaining style. Through the use of anecdote, facts and by demonstration, Ted and Ray challenged everyone to re-connect agriculture with trees both for the obvious things such as timber and energy but also as a direct aid to farming. Ted proclaimed that twigs laden with leaves are "Tree Hay" and that animals, especially cattle, thrive on a mix of older grass species, herbs and dead leaves in their diet. Ray Woods said that planting trees within pasture fields had many benefits. Among them are that trees will act as a wind break and so will raise temperatures thereby allowing for earlier grass growth in spring. Ray added that trees helped by fungi on their roots are exceptional at trapping and recycling phosphorous through decaying leaves. With the world's phosphate supply estimated to run out in another 130 years (with 1/3 of that in Libya), perhaps it was time to think about planting inter-field trees, he suggested.

The day was introduced by Glenda Thomas, Director FWAG Cymru who welcomed the interest shown in our ancient tree heritage and explained the partnership working between the Woodland Trust /Coed Cadw, FWAG Cymru and the Ancient Tree Forum. A short presentation within Gelli Aur's Divesification Resource Centre was followed by a walk around the farmland to see some of the college's ancient trees. The importance of keeping nutrient enrichment to a minimum was emphasised, with Ray explaining that the oak's bark is naturally acidic and supports rarer lichens. However, nutrient enrichment, caused, for example by spreading manure or slurry too close to the trees can displace these lichens, as indeed can ammonia leaking out of the system some distance from ancient trees.

Roger Mathias, of FWAG Cymru proposed a vote of thanks at the end of the walk. All then returned to Gelli Aur Resource Centre for a welcome cup of tea, cake and sandwiches, followed by lively discussion on the topics covered during the day.