A new nature habit has been created by Ysgol Bro Dyfrdwy pupils to help local wildlife around Cynwyd.

Pupils joined with the Council’s Biodiversity Team and Countryside Rangers to help plant a new hedge row and standard trees on the school grounds.

Work has been ongoing across county schools in the last 12 months to help increase biodiversity and tree canopies across school grounds for supporting nature’s recovery and to provide an educational wellbeing outdoor area for youngsters. It has been funded from a UK Government grant.

Planting the trees at school grounds also supports the Council’s drive to reach net carbon zero by contributing to the amount of carbon sequestered (or absorbed).

Pupils helped create a 50-metre-long hedge full of a variety of thorny, flowering and fruiting species to support local nature.

The hedge row includes Crab Apple which through its leaves provides food for caterpillars of many moths. Its flowers provide an early source of nectar for pollinators including bees. Blackbirds, thrushes, crows and voles also eat the fruit/

Also included in the hedge row is Rowan. The tree’s berries are a rich source of autumn food for mistle thrush, redstart, redwing, song thrush, fieldfare and waxwing.

Other trees planted in the hedge by the pupils include Cherry Plum, Dog Rose, Field Maple, Hawthorn, Wild Pear, Hazel, Holly, Hornbeam, and Dogwood.

Standard size trees also planted on the school grounds included Wild Cherry and Sweet Chestnut.

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport and Biodiversity Champion, said: “We are really grateful to Ysgol Bro Dyfrdwy for their fantastic support in helping our Biodiversity Team create this brilliant new area for Cynwyd’s local nature to enjoy and also for the wellbeing and learning of all the youngsters involved.”

A Rhyl nature reserve is opening up brand new views of its wildlife for this year.

Over the autumn and winter months, the Council’s Countryside Service has continued to work on developing Brickfield Pond Nature Reserve to support local nature and the surrounding communities.

Brickfield Pond Nature Reserve was recently honoured at the Wales in Bloom 2024 awards ceremony, receiving the class ‘Thriving’ under the Wales in Bloom It’s Your Neighbourhood awards.

Countryside rangers and volunteers supported by Nature for Health have carried out work that has seen a community orchard and pond opened up, improvements to the walkways, removal of dead trees and the tidying up of the viewpoints around the main waters.

Areas have also been improved around the nature reserve to encourage more water voles to make their home at the site.

During autumn and winter, work has taken place to clear bramble in the area next to the cycle path leading into the nature reserve from the Ysgol Tir Morfa side. Dead trees were removed to allow more light into the area to support the surviving nature, new spindle and lime trees were planted and a mix of yellow rattle, red bartsia and woodland wild flower mix seeds were sown to support pollinators.

Just off the path the team has also created a habitat pile to provide food and shelter for wildlife in the area.

New viewpoints of the pond have also been opened up along the path on the south side of the nature reserve through bramble and dead tree clearance.

Countryside Ranger Vitor Evora explained how improvements were made to the first sighting of Brickfield Pond as visitors start walking the south side path from the car park.

“We did work at this view over two stages, first we cleared the bramble and tided up the dog rose, you can see the difference as before there was no grass just bramble and now you can see the grass

“We aren’t cutting everything down, we want to stress that people visiting as our local nature needs a lot of the natural areas along the path. For example there is ivy along the path and we will leave that as that makes a very good habitat area. We are just looking to remove species have died off and cut back other areas to allow plants and trees to better flourish going forward.

“These new viewpoints we now have, especially in the spring and summer when the trees come to life will really make great places for visitors here to stop and enjoy the sights of the various wildlife Brickfield Pond has on its waters.”

Hazel hurdles, sustainable fencing made at the nature reserve will be fitted on to some of the viewpoints which will also include habitat piles to again support local wildlife

Work has also progressed on the community orchard site with the small pond opened up to visitors thanks to the removal of some of the bramble and a wetland wildflower seed mix sowed on the ground to help give a boost to insects in the area.

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport and Council Biodiversity Champion, said: “This nature reserve plays an important role for projects and supporting local wildlife and providing a great spot for people to come and walk around for their own health benefits. We are grateful for everyone involved at the reserve for continuing to develop the area and I look forward to seeing the site in full bloom as we come into spring and summer this year.”

Work is underway to preserve the legacy of a beloved Ruthin park veteran tree.

At the end of last year, Storm Darragh caused damage to many areas across Denbighshire through high winds, bringing down a number of trees across the county.

At Cae Ddôl park, the storm brought down the much loved estimated 550 year-old Oak which has overlooked the nearby water for generations of Ruthin residents and visitors to enjoy.

To preserve the memory of the Oak for future generations, intricate work is now underway at the Council’s Tree Nursery at St Asaph.

The Council’s Tree Team and Biodiversity Team are leading the way to safeguard the legacy of the old Oak.

Cuttings from the Oak were taken to the tree nursery, which staff aim to propagate (grow on), on site. In time, it is hoped there will be an opportunity to plant the Oak’s progeny around Cae Ddôl and the local area.

A grafting technique has also been used in the hope of producing new trees from the linage of the memorable Ruthin landmark.

As the Oak tree was protected by the site Tree Preservation Order (TPO), the Council has a duty under the TPO legislation to plant a replacement Oak tree in the same (approximate) location, to ensure that the amenity value of the TPO is preserved for future generations. The Council will do this as soon as practicable, when plans for the fallen tree and site are finalised.

Councillor Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, and Biodiversity Champion said: “We know how much this old oak has given to many, many people across years, it provided lots of memories for those visiting the park. At the tree nursery we are working to make sure that although the main tree couldn’t sadly be saved after the storm, its legacy is preserved so possibly one day we can reintroduce its lineage into Cae Ddôl.”

The Council will look to carry out public engagement and information gathering to ensure that Ruthin is involved in deciding what the Oak’s future will be.

Some of the proposed ideas at this time include salvaging as much viable timber from the tree as possible, to be stored and milled for future projects in the park and surrounding area and to leave the tree stump in situ as valuable habitat for local wildlife, or to be carved into a commemorative sculpture at a later date.

Outdoor coastal care opportunities are providing benefits to both people and local nature.

Across the county coastline, volunteers have helped rangers reintroduce marram grass to the dune system around Rhyl harbour to support local biodiversity, repaired timber on the boardwalk and installed two new benches.

They have also supported the installation of new Wales Coast Path discs to signage and waymarkers around the harbour and Horton’s Nose and Barkby and Gronant Dunes.

Volunteers also help with the annual set up of the Little Tern colony at Gronant Dunes, and are a great help with the day-to-day running of the colony during little tern season.

Scrub clearance has been a priority during the winter months, with work carried out at the dunes at Barkby and Gronant, and Tower Beach. Volunteers guided by the rangers have also carried out important maintenance to the solitary bee boxes, giving them a good clean out and ensuring they are ready to go back out in the spring.

North Denbighshire Coastal Ranger Claudia Smith said: “Having the volunteers get stuck into the work with us is fantastic as you can see how much they enjoy being outdoors and doing something important to help local nature and their own community enjoy the area they are helping with.

“Countryside volunteering with us is a great way to boost your health, gain experience and also care for the environment you live in as well.”

Upcoming coastal work that people can attend includes:

Councillor Alan James, the Council's Cabinet Lead Member for Local Development and Planning, said: “Stepping outside is important for helping physical and mental health and we are grateful for this continuing opportunity from the rangers for the volunteers to support their own well-being.

“It’s also vital we do all we can to protect our nature in these amazing environments we have on our coastline, and this will help preserve these areas and habitats for people to visit and enjoy.

Anyone interested in helping can contact Claudia on 07785517398 or email Claudia.Smith@denbighshire.gov.uk.