Thousands of locally grown trees are preparing to boost Denbighshire’s biodiversity.

The Council’s Local Provenance Tree Nursery at St Asaph currently has around 24 varieties of tree growing on site.

The nursery is currently home to nearly 40,000 trees which are in different stages of growth. If all the trees are successful in growth that’s nearly 70 acres of woodland that could be covered by the work of the Council’s Biodiversity team and nursery volunteers.

This project has been funded by the Welsh Government, through the Local Nature Partnerships Cymru ENRaW project and Local Places for Nature grant.

The Council’s Biodiversity team use a local provenance method to source seeds across the county for growing at the tree nursery until they are ready to be planted on local land.

Work at the nursery to support tree growth includes a mix of preserving and boosting core tree members such as oaks and also lending a supporting hand for conserving rare trees such as the wild service tree.

Other trees grown on site include pedunculate oak, sessile oak, sweet chestnut, silver birch, alder, wych elm and grey willow.

Some of the trees that are ready to be planted will help form a new woodland area of the Green Gates Nature Reserve of which the tree nursery is a part of.

The work of the nursery is part of the Council’s commitment to addressing a Climate and Ecological Emergency declared in 2019, by helping increase the county tree canopy cover to reduce carbon emissions and provide stronger support for local nature.

Nearly 16,000 wildflowers have also been produced from county seeds at the tree nursery and these will continue to support existing wildflower meadows in Denbighshire though plug planting.

Many of these wildflowers support a variety of different wildlife. For example, bird’s foot trefoil can provide food for 160 species of insects, encouraging shrews and lapwings to visit the plant, improving nature’s resilience in local communities.

Once planted they will also add more variety to meadows for local communities to enjoy and learn from and maintain and improve biodiversity.

Having more wildflowers on the meadows also gives greater support to pollinators who are important to the human food supply chain.

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Growing trees takes time and it’s a credit to our Biodiversity team and the tree nursery volunteers that we now have 24 species of trees on site that will eventually go back out to tackle the impact of climate change for both residents and our local nature.

“It’s fantastic to think that we have potential acres of woodland siting at the nursery and I know the hard work is continuing to collect seeds this season from existing local woodlands to help continue to grow this number we have on site.”

Work is underway to help a rare butterfly take flight in Denbighshire.

Denbighshire County Council’s Local Provenance Tree Nursery at St Asaph is giving a helping hand to an under-threat tree that provides vital food for a rare butterfly.

The Council’s Biodiversity team recently collected seeds from Wych Elms growing at Loggerheads County Park to grow at the tree nursery. These will be eventually planted out at the Green Gates Nature Reserve development next to the tree nursery.

This work and other projects at the site to protect local tree and wildflower species is funded by Welsh Government through the Local Places for Nature grant as part of the Council’s work with the Local Nature Partnership.

Wych Elms are under threat from Dutch elms disease, with many mature trees cut down due to its impact, reducing the growth and spread of younger trees.

This tree is the larval food-plant of the rare White-Letter Hairstreak Butterfly, which was recorded at Loggerheads some years back but has remained scarce in the county.

The butterfly is reliant on the unopened flower buds of the Wych Elm for food to survive.

Sam Brown, Tree Nursery Assistant, explained: “The Wych Elms we have planted from seed at the nursery have grown really well. Its numbers have declined over the years due to Dutch elms disease and a reluctance to replant the tree.

“However, the Wych Elm is such an important source of food for the White-Letter Hairstreak Butterfly, without them the butterfly would become extinct. People don't plant Elms anymore because Dutch Elm disease kills them before maturity. The butterfly does not need mature Elms, but just young ones that are old enough flower to provide them with food.

“What we have grown here, we can add to hedgerows to maintain their height, reduce the impact of Dutch elms disease and encourage flowering for many years before reaching maturity.

“This tree is a perfect example of how important it is to try and reverse the loss of trees and plants locally as they all play their part in providing a vital food source for insects and animals, the less we have around the county, the more at risk our local nature becomes.”

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport and Council Biodiversity Champion, said: “Our Biodiversity team are working hard to protect many species that have become rare.

“This fantastic effort will not only help the White-Letter Hairstreak Butterfly recover in our county, but it will also give our future communities a slice of nature from the past back to enjoy while outdoors.”

Denbighshire County Council’s Planning Committee has agreed planning permission for the creation of a 40-acre area nature reserve at Green Gates, Cwttir Lane, St Asaph.

This development is part of a number of phases of work at the land which is planned to eventually grow into a 70-acre nature reserve.

The Council declared a Climate Change and Ecological Emergency in July 2019 and the St Asaph nature reserve development is part of the response to protect and restore local nature habitats to contribute to our nature recovery goal. The increased hedgerow and tree cover will also contribute to our net carbon zero goal by increasing carbon absorption.

Plans have already been agreed for the development of a 30-acre nature reserve section at the site. The overall area also includes the Council’s established local provenance tree nursery which aims to produce around 5,000 trees and 5,000 wildflowers a year to help boost local nature habitats.

The planning committee agreed to the demolition of existing buildings and the change of use of the 40 acres of land from agricultural land to a new nature reserve.

Habitat creation on this area will see the restoration of existing ponds, the creation of new ponds, the creation of a wetland area adjacent to two small watercourses and creation of woodland and grassland habitat areas.

Waste materials from the demolished buildings will be used to create a new brownfield site, which is a Priority Habitat and will help to support a variety of rare and important wildlife – such as insects and wildflowers. The site has also been identified by Natural Resources Wales as a potential Site of Special Scientific Interest for great crested newts.

Work will also see the construction of a permissive pathway and engineering works to create a raised viewing area together with associated works.

Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport said, “This is an important piece in the development of a 70-acre nature reserve that will become a strong asset for the county in supporting our local wildlife, plants and trees, as well for community wellbeing, education and leisure.

“We’ve already seen the positive impact the tree nursery, located on this site, is having in protecting and supporting local nature and recovery.

“This development of the land around the nursery will restore habitats supporting rare and important wildlife. The replacement of species poor grassland to species rich grasslands, wetlands, woodland and scrub habitats is an essential step to meeting our continuing goal to increase biodiversity and improve carbon sequestration.”

This work is funded by Welsh Government through the Local Places for Nature grant as part of the Council’s work with the Local Nature Partnership. Additional funding has also been provided from Denbighshire’s Climate and Nature Recovery Programme.