Beacons Connecting Nature: A landscape for nature and people

What we’ll do

• Restore and reconnect fragmented habitats including Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a National Nature Reserve (NNR).
• Improve habitats such as meadows and rush pasture and coedcae (wood pasture) margins, carry out scrub control and establish hedgerows and trees.
• Create a dedicated Skills Hub at Ty Mawr for practical training in countryside and conservation skills for over 2500 individuals.
• Create a tree nursery and a sphagnum moss nursery to produce plants and seeds with local provenance.
• Protect wildlife through the safeguarding of a known roost for lesser horseshoe bats and enhancing habitats for other species including pine marten, water vole, dormouse, skylark, and marsh fritillary butterfly. 
• Train a team of volunteers to monitor the ecology across the network of sites so we can see how nature is recovering.
• Engage with local communities and people to offer volunteering opportunities and enable connection to nature on their doorstep.
• Introduce conservation grazing with cattle using GPS collars.
• Repair heritage features, such as dry-stone walls and a historic sunken lane.

A network of sites

Selected for their potential to be transformed and joined up for the benefit of nature, project areas include the upland slopes of Cwm Gwdi, wooded valleys of Cwm Sere and Cwm Oergwm, marshy grasslands at Coelbren and meadows at Ty Mawr Farm.

A Skills Hub at Ty Mawr

Located not far from Brecon, Ty Mawr Farm is at the centre of this transformational project. When the farm returned to our care in 2023 it presented us with an opportunity to try something new.

Tucked away in the upper Tarell Valley below Pen y Fan, the farm is a mix of grassland, woodland, hedgerows and riverland habitats. The earliest farm buildings date back to the 17th century, with ancient trackways and traditional drystone walls criss-cross the historic valley.

Here we will establish a Skills Hub for both practical conservation and community engagement. We will offer hands-on training in countryside skills to over 2,500 people, creating a network of people who can help care for this landscape long into the future.

Get involved

We offer a range of opportunities to connect with nature and help restore it in Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park:

• Become a conservation volunteer and join a regular or one-off volunteering session helping the ranger team with practical work.
• Visit the farm with a school, college, education or community group and find out more about it’s history, wildlife and our work.
• Attend an event to help monitor the recovery of flora and fauna or a ranger-led training day in countryside skills.
• Organise a corporate team building day and spend the day outdoors helping to restore nature.

If you are interested in any of the above opportunities or want to find out more email us at TyMawrBrecon@nationaltrust.org.uk

Thanks to our funders

#NNF4 Y Bannau'n Cysylltu Natur / Beacons Connecting Nature is supported by Welsh Government and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. With funding of £971,888 through the Nature Networks Fund, this project is part of a wider effort to accelerate nature recovery across Wales.