Bremenda Isaf has been a farm for a long time, but that hasn’t stopped it being a home to everything from otters to buzzards, and lichen to dormice. Farming and nature have co-evolved in Wales over millennia, and this farm contains homes for this array of wildlife – from the shingle banks of the Tywi to the marshy fields of the hills behind and the ancient hedgerows.
Species rich
The waters of the Tywi are famed for their populations of sewin and salmon, with birds such as moor hen, coots and the nationally rare little-ringed plover also plentiful along its riverbanks. The river itself and its associated shingle beaches, ox-bow lakes, etc. support a rich biodiversity both in and out of the water: the over-wintering birds make for an impressive soundscape. The Tywi valley is also home to 75% of the entire Welsh population of tree sparrows – so when you visit the site, keep your eyes peeled!
Inland from the river you might see dormice and rare fungi growing in the damp pastures, as well as whorled caraway – Carmarthenshire’s county flower. The old, solitary oak trees that stand guard along sections of the farm’s hedgerows are also important habitats for lichen, insects and birds.
Changes
We know from memories and older records of this area that many species formerly present have now been lost or become scare. Some of these are huge losses – the now endangered corncrake with its raucous notes used to be a familiar sound in this area. Other birds that are now rare in this region, including the kingfisher, kestrel and snipe, used to be common enough locally for children to collect their eggs.
Many of these birds have suffered from the decline in insects (to eat) and in suitable areas to nest and raise their young – all of which have suffered from the huge changes in farming over the past seventy years. In a landscape that used to have a patchwork of uses – growing wheat and barley, apple orchards, hay meadows and pasture – there now tends to be only one dominant crop, namely grass. Now, as the land is returned to organic, regenerative food production, hopefully new species will find a home here alongside farming.
