On the 18th of February, three generations of tree planters came together on the Penpont Estate, in the Brecon Beacons National Park, to conserve one of our rarest trees: black poplar.
The Penpont Project is a nature recovery initiative coordinated by Action for Conservation, a UK-based charity inspiring the next generation of environmental leaders. At Penpont, young people have an equal seat at the table with the landowners, farmers, foresters, artists, teachers and ecologists who call Penpont home. The project is showing how we can restore nature through dialogue, collaboration and knowledge sharing across generations.
With over 100 specialist insect associations - including the hornet moth, wood leopard moth and poplar hawk moth - the return of black poplar to the valley is a significant step towards restoring biodiversity to the 500-acre project site. As members of The Tree Council’s tree warden scheme, the project team have been busy mapping veteran trees and working with a range of ecologists to better understand the conditions of the site and guide restoration efforts.
(Pictured left: Hornet Moth - The larvae burrow into the wood of black poplar. Photo: Ben Sale)
Project Manager, Forrest Hogg, who is based at Penpont, believes that planting trees is essential to building a more resilient and vibrant future:
“We are fortunate to have some maps of the estate from nearly 400 years ago which give clues to the historic extent of trees in our landscape. It is exciting to be working with our community to restore these features and bring more trees back onto our farmland.”
Alongside restoring riverside habitats, the project team are planting hedgerows, working with farmers to restore wildflower meadows and developing a bespoke educational programme for young people to experience and take action for nature.
A once regular feature in our valleys, black poplar numbers in the UK have declined over the last century as we cleared riverside woodlands for agriculture. These impacts reduced black poplar to around 1000 trees by the mid 1970s. Today thanks to conservation efforts, this number has grown to around 7,000 trees.
The Usk and Wye Valleys are home to a scattering of notable black poplars, but recent flooding events and a lack of replanting efforts in the area has left numbers dwindling. In 2020, John Gibbs, formerly senior tree pathologist at the Forestry Commission, took action to preserve the genetic legacy of black poplar in the Usk Valley.
“Just before the Covid lockdown, we went to the splendid black poplars at Crickhowell and we cut some shoots that were sprouting from the base of the trunk and took them home and stuck them in the soil in our garden. I’ve been seeking people willing to plant them out into the landscape, and when I heard about what was happening at Penpont it seemed like a great fit. It’s really exciting… this is a species that has been a part of our tree flora since the ice age”, says John.
The project seeks not only to restore nature to the valley, but also our connection to nature and to each other. Several members of the Youth Leadership Group, who sit on the co-management council for the Penpont Project, helped coordinate the planting day. They invited a Youth Group from Bristol and South Wales to take part in the event. Ellen, aged 15, from Defynnog, spoke a blessing in Welsh to wish the trees well on their journey.
“Gobeithiwn bydd y coed yma yn tyfu’n gryf a byw bywydau hir, llwyddiannus ac yn ffynnu gan ddarparu cynefin, bwyd a chysgod ar gyfer y rhywogaethau sydd yn byw ar ein planed.”
“We hope that these trees grow strong and live long, healthy lives and that they thrive and provide habitat, food and shelter for the species that call this planet home.”
Scroll down to see more photographs from Penpont's black poplar planting day:
