The Snowdonia Society is delighted to be both a core partner – helping to shape and govern the project – and a delivery partner – getting stuck in and helping to make things happen! We’ll be running walks, talks and volunteer events and supporting the partnership however possible. We’re eager to help support local communities to tackle Himalayan balsam; a non-native invasive species which has taken over parts of the project area. We’re also looking forward to lending a hand clearing scrub from archaeological sites – an exciting new branch of our volunteer work.
A new scheme dedicated to protecting and celebrating the cultural and natural heritage of the Carneddau area is officially launching online on Wednesday 14 October 2020. With the help of funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, a partnership of organisations is delivering a 5-year scheme to help people discover, protect and celebrate the Carneddau.
The area is home to rare animals and plants, including iconic species such as the chough and the Carneddau ponies, as well as fragile habitats such as montane heath – Wales’ tundra. There is also evidence of human activity dating back thousands of years, and these remains are of international importance.
The unique landscape of the area is under pressure from climate change, shifts in land-use patterns, invasive species and human pressures. Traditional knowledge, place names and stories that connect people with the landscape are also at risk of being lost.
The Carneddau Landscape Partnership – a collection of organisations led by the Snowdonia National Park Authority – have developed an exciting scheme that will promote a positive future for the area. At the heart of the scheme is a vision to help as broad an audience as possible to discover, conserve and celebrate the Carneddau.
The scheme will help conserve the area’s heritage by promoting sustainable land use that protects rare habitats, species and archaeological remains, and by recording place names and memories. A £1.7 million grant from the National Heritage Lottery Fund will help deliver the scheme, worth over £4 million.
Carneddau Landscape Partnership Scheme Manager, Dr Marian Pye said ‘Lockdown has brought into sharp focus the importance of the landscape on our doorstep. The Carneddau Landscape Partnership is a collection of organisations passionate about improving understanding and management of this treasured landscape.’
‘There is no doubt that the scheme is launching at a challenging time. As a partnership we will look at new ways of working to ensure that we can all enjoy the special qualities of the Carneddau.’
Partnership Chair, Dr Prysor Williams of Bangor University said: ‘The launch of the Carneddau Landscape Partnership comes at a critical time for the area’s rural communities.’
‘The scheme will offer exciting opportunities to co-operate on sustainable land management while at the same time celebrating traditional practices. The Partnership will work to ensure that the culture, stories and placenames of the Carneddau are handed over to the next generation.’
Director of the National Lottery Heritage Fund in Wales, Andrew White, said: ‘Nature is our oldest form of heritage and it’s a pleasure for the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support the Carneddau Landscape Partnership.’
‘As one of the leading funders of the heritage sector in Wales, we welcome and support the partnership’s vision of conserving the threatened heritage of the Carneddau for the future and helping as broad an audience as possible to discover, record, conserve and celebrate the Carneddau.’
Renowned poet, Ieuan Wyn said: ‘The Carneddau Landscape Partnership Scheme is an opportunity for us to protect and contribute to strengthening Welsh life, promote the conservation of the natural environment, and further enrich the legacy to be passed on to future generations.’
For more information about the scheme visit: https://www.snowdonia.
To attend the online launch event: https://www.eventbrite.
