At the end of March we asked you to write to your AMs. The Welsh Government had tabled a debate on an as yet unpublished draft report called Future Landscapes Wales (FLW). This report rewrote the priorities our National Parks were to operate under and removed a vital environmental called the Sandford Principle. Read More
On Tuesday 28th of March (this Tuesday), the Senedd in Cardiff will debate an a document not available to the public entitled “Review of National Parks and AONBs” that will strip National Parks of a key conservation principle, the Sandford Principle.
Conwy Falls has been voted as Landmark of the Year by readers of BBC Countryfile Magazine. Read More
Well, happily, the Conwy is right where nature intended, flowing within her banks and supporting her delicate ecosystem. Hopefully she’s safe for now, but there’s no certainty to that.
Save the Conwy has just got back from an amazing trip to the Batoka Gorge on the Zambezi.
As with many others around the world this fantastic river is about to disappear under a hydro dam reservoir. A 183m high dam wall (sited at the picture below) will flood around 35 miles of river up to around 1mile from the base of the Victoria Falls UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Problems with high levels of methane production in dams at this latitude are well known, recent studies show that hydro dam reservoirs account for 8% of all man-made green house gases, more the Canada’s entire emissions.
BioScience paper on methane and hydro reservoirs,
The economy of nearby Livingston has grown up around the visitors to this amazing river, home to the endangered Fish Eagle, Zambia’s national bird. It is hard to imagine how this community will benefit in a country almost entirely self sufficient in power already.
For more information click the link.
International Rivers , Zambezi Dam
Thanks to Seppi Strohmeier for the images and video.
The news that RWE have withdrawn their recent planning application has spread to a range of media outlets. The BBC carried several reports and John Harold Director of the Snowdonia Society featured on Good Afternoon Wales (41mins in) …
There have been a large number of objectors to the scheme, and recently those from within the National Park themselves have come to light
In common with the Senior Ecologist the National Parks Tree Officer has serious concerns about the proposed Conwy Falls HEP scheme. The problem lies with the incredibly restrictive CMS (construction method statement) the developer had proposed in order to convince the National Park that serious environmental damage will not occur.
The Conwy Falls HEP scheme was refused at it’s first try because the application didn’t hold enough information or visuals on the likely impact to the landscape …
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