Restore the Thaw Landscape - Community

View this page in Welsh / Gweld y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg

Volunteers

We are working with a fantastic number of volunteers on a range of projects, including:

  • A dedicated officer from Innovate Trust working weekly with up to 10 Innovate Trust volunteers – they have completed the most amazing work!
  • A monthly conservation work party working on sites all over the catchment - this occurs usually on the first Wednesday of the month and involves a range of different activities.
  • Ad-hoc volunteer sessions working on a range of projects, with local businesses and organisations e.g. litter pick at Aberthaw, meadow raking with local community groups.

We also run lots of training for volunteers to participate in Citizen Science projects including the following surveys:

  • Adder and reptiles – focussing in on emergence surveys and finding new locations in the catchment
  • Water voles – looking for signs of the newly introduced water voles and monitoring their spread up and downstream
  • Water Quality Monitoring of the River at various locations in the catchment on a monthly basis, via The Angling Trust.
  • Smart River sampling of invertebrates In the rivers at 6 designated locations – this gives a very accurate picture of river health and is done twice a year
  • Otters – focussing on surveying the whole of the river catchment for signs of otter, including spraint (poo!), footprints, food remains and hopefully sightings!
  • Invertebrates (Bugs!) – we are running several surveys, in partnership with Buglife, including Oil Beetles, Darkling Beetle and, next year, the Carrot Mining Bee


Interested in getting involved? Find out more here.


Schools

In Phase 1 of the project, we organised 3 school programmes, engaging 32 local schools and 1,900 pupils in wildlife conservation and nature topics:

  • Nuts for Trees: pupils collected and processed native tree seeds from their local areas, planting them in specially designed growing modules. These young trees were then carefully nurtured in a local tree nursery, and then planted to create new nature corridors across the River Thaw catchment.
  • River Thaw - Source to Shore: this interactive workshop taught pupils about the River Thaw's habitats and wildlife, and explored issues affecting the River Thaw Landscape.
  • Creature Chronicles: a vibrant collection of stories, delivered through engaging theatre productions, shining a spotlight on endangered species in the Vale and how we can all protect the nature on our doorstep.


Events

We’ve delivered a wide range of nature-themed events engaging over 6,000 people, including bat walks, beaver workshops, family nature days, rock pooling sessions, guided nature walks and an annual nature festival. Find out more here.

Our events are promoted on our Facebook page and via Eventbrite, so keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities to get involved.



Landowners / Farmers

We work closely with local farms, wildlife sites and smallholders, and provide advice, guidance and financial support for habitat works that improve wildlife connectivity across the Thaw Landscape.

We are currently working with more than 60 landowners across the catchment and have installed fencing, gates, ponds, hedgerows, orchards, managed meadows and collected local wildflower seed.

If you have some land and would like some guidance and/or financial support for habitat works, or would simply like more information, get in touch with us at thaw@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk



Partners We Are Working With

We’re working with a wide range of partners to support our work — some of whom have been involved from the very beginning, including Innovate Trust, LNP and Waterloo Foundation. Our network continues to grow, with recent additions such as the Bat Conservation Trust, Glamorgan Bird Club, and CCR Energy.



View this page in Welsh / Gweld y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg

Volunteers

We are working with a fantastic number of volunteers on a range of projects, including:

  • A dedicated officer from Innovate Trust working weekly with up to 10 Innovate Trust volunteers – they have completed the most amazing work!
  • A monthly conservation work party working on sites all over the catchment - this occurs usually on the first Wednesday of the month and involves a range of different activities.
  • Ad-hoc volunteer sessions working on a range of projects, with local businesses and organisations e.g. litter pick at Aberthaw, meadow raking with local community groups.

We also run lots of training for volunteers to participate in Citizen Science projects including the following surveys:

  • Adder and reptiles – focussing in on emergence surveys and finding new locations in the catchment
  • Water voles – looking for signs of the newly introduced water voles and monitoring their spread up and downstream
  • Water Quality Monitoring of the River at various locations in the catchment on a monthly basis, via The Angling Trust.
  • Smart River sampling of invertebrates In the rivers at 6 designated locations – this gives a very accurate picture of river health and is done twice a year
  • Otters – focussing on surveying the whole of the river catchment for signs of otter, including spraint (poo!), footprints, food remains and hopefully sightings!
  • Invertebrates (Bugs!) – we are running several surveys, in partnership with Buglife, including Oil Beetles, Darkling Beetle and, next year, the Carrot Mining Bee


Interested in getting involved? Find out more here.


Schools

In Phase 1 of the project, we organised 3 school programmes, engaging 32 local schools and 1,900 pupils in wildlife conservation and nature topics:

  • Nuts for Trees: pupils collected and processed native tree seeds from their local areas, planting them in specially designed growing modules. These young trees were then carefully nurtured in a local tree nursery, and then planted to create new nature corridors across the River Thaw catchment.
  • River Thaw - Source to Shore: this interactive workshop taught pupils about the River Thaw's habitats and wildlife, and explored issues affecting the River Thaw Landscape.
  • Creature Chronicles: a vibrant collection of stories, delivered through engaging theatre productions, shining a spotlight on endangered species in the Vale and how we can all protect the nature on our doorstep.


Events

We’ve delivered a wide range of nature-themed events engaging over 6,000 people, including bat walks, beaver workshops, family nature days, rock pooling sessions, guided nature walks and an annual nature festival. Find out more here.

Our events are promoted on our Facebook page and via Eventbrite, so keep an eye out for upcoming opportunities to get involved.



Landowners / Farmers

We work closely with local farms, wildlife sites and smallholders, and provide advice, guidance and financial support for habitat works that improve wildlife connectivity across the Thaw Landscape.

We are currently working with more than 60 landowners across the catchment and have installed fencing, gates, ponds, hedgerows, orchards, managed meadows and collected local wildflower seed.

If you have some land and would like some guidance and/or financial support for habitat works, or would simply like more information, get in touch with us at thaw@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk



Partners We Are Working With

We’re working with a wide range of partners to support our work — some of whom have been involved from the very beginning, including Innovate Trust, LNP and Waterloo Foundation. Our network continues to grow, with recent additions such as the Bat Conservation Trust, Glamorgan Bird Club, and CCR Energy.