Natur Cymru

The time is obviously right for a new voice for the environment in Wales. Natur Cymru has had a warm reception, and the number of subscribers has exceeded expectations.

The First Minister, Rhodri Morgan, gave his enthusiastic support to the venture at our launch. He also threw out a challenge. A walk through the fields around his home had conjured up his childhood. Tightly grazed pastures had been transformed into flower-filled meadows. The removal of stock and the closure of footpaths in many parts of the country had, he suggested, created a once-in-a-generation chance to see what would happen when nature was released from people and grazing pressure. Was anyone monitoring the changes?

It may be a silver lining to a very dark cloud, but the crisis in farming has given us all a glimpse of what could happen in places where livestock numbers have been reduced. In this issue, Mick Green wonders whether intensive livestock farming is always the best option in the uplands.

The need to monitor what is going on in the environment has never been greater, because the changes that are happening are more profound than ever. Stories about the spread of southern species are common these days. A beautiful orb web spider with a venomous bite, the wasp spider, is apparently establishing itself across southern Britain. Tropical ocean-dwellers like the leatherback turtle, recently seen off Anglesey, are making their way more and more regularly into the seas around our coast.

Three of our contributors explore the implications of climate change for our environment: John Farrar explains what we know about climate change and what we need to do in response to it; Clive Walmsley describes some environmental changes which have been measured at a special monitoring site on Snowdon; while Rory Francis paints a grim picture of what might happen to our woods. He concludes that conservation policies must take account of the need to allow nature to adapt to a changing climate.

Nature is so diverse that there will never be a shortage of wildlife subjects to write about: here TV birdman Iolo Williams provides a report on the status of raptors in Wales, and Ray Woods gives us our autumnal cover subject – waxcaps. There are human subjects, too: David Saunders pays tribute to a great naturalist, Ronald Lockley; and Peter Hope Jones, who collaborated with the poet R.S.Thomas to produce a wonderful portrait of Bardsey through words and images, reflects on the spiritual value of nature reserves like Bardsey. Whatever your interests, I hope there is something here to lift your spirits.

James Robertson