Cambrian Mountains Forest Resource Plan 2025

Overview map

Objectives

Some are applied to specific areas, but where not otherwise stated, objectives apply through the forests.

General forestry practice

• Produce large volumes of timber in a sustainable way, maximising timber quality through good species and provenance choice, and well-planned thinning operations.
• Forest productive potential should be maintained, and enhanced where possible, noting that this term includes provision of other ecosystem services as well as timber production.
• Forest managers should work to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of silvicultural operations, and improve forest condition to reduce impacts and risks to the natural environment.
• Harvesting and restocking operations will be utilised to deliver wider environmental improvements in the forest.

Forests and biodiversity

• Protect and expand existing habitat networks within the forest, utilising broadleaf riparian woodlands and successional woodlands to provide natural links between open upland habitats, and the river network in the valleys.
• Take opportunities to incorporate the areas of peatland which are being restored under the National Peatland Action Programme, into the wider habitat networks. (Peat restoration areas are mainly in Twyi and Cwm Berwyn forests, in specific areas identified on the FRP maps).
• Improve the ecological condition of native woodland areas.

Red squirrel conservation is of particular importance in the Cambrian Mountains, one of only three populations of this native species still considered viable in mid-Wales:

• Forest design will discourage the spread of grey squirrels into the core red squirrel area, and improve provision of habitat and canopy connectivity for red squirrels in the long term
• Reconcile the potentially conflict between peatland restoration (i.e. creating large open areas) and red squirrel conservation (which requires tree canopy connectivity), through sympathetic forest design and carefully phased operations.
• Operational planning shall ensure appropriate protection for red squirrels and their habitat.

(The red squirrel objectives apply within the area covered by the mid-Wales Red Squirrel Project, this includes most of the FRP area but excludes Bwlchiliau and Garth Bank.)

Forests and climate change

• Broaden the range of age-classes and tree species within the woodlands, taking opportunities in the most suitable areas. There is limited potential for diversification with commercially-viable species on sites at high elevation, with high exposure and poor soils.
• Carry out timely thinnings to improve tree stability, improve timber quality, and give more options for future management.
• Use Low Impact Silvicultural Systems (LISS) where appropriate. (LISS management is applied where the site and forest crop are suitable. Typically this means areas where it is feasible to carry out regular, cost-effective thinnings, without an unacceptable risk of windblow.)
• Where LISS are not considered feasible, ensure clearfells are carefully designed to a scale suitable for the landscape.
• Improve future resilience to gales and fires by breaking up larger contiguous areas of high forest, with rides, firebreaks and areas of riparian / successional woodland.
• Working with the National Peatland Action Programme, undertake restoration works to restore functioning hydrology and ecological systems. Deforestation for peatland restoration will only take place on defined areas, where the approach is consistent with NRW policy.

Forests and the historic environment

• Manage Scheduled Ancient Monuments in accordance with site management plans, under advice from Cadw.
• Identify and protect heritage and archaeological features within the forests, using information provided by Heneb as part of this FRP. The forests include non-scheduled sites where heritage features are significant to the understanding and interpretation of local history, and may be important to local people.

Forests and landscape

The Cambrian Mountains forest blocks can mostly be characterised as upland and remote; their large size makes them significant in the rural landscape. The northern part of Tywi and Cwm Berwyn are within the Upland Ceredigion Registered Historic Landscape.

• Gradually modify the forests to improve their landscape amenity. In combination with the use of LISS and forest diversification, this entails reducing hard / artificial breaks in the landscape, encouraging mixed woodland at boundaries and using natural features (such as watercourses and changes in slope) to provide more natural-looking breaks in coniferous forest cover.
• Historic landscape features should be maintained and woodland cover managed to allow suitable views and interpretation.

Forests and people

Maintain and where possible improve the experience of visitors to the woodland, providing a safe, enjoyable and varied woodland environment:

• The woodlands should be beneficial to the health and well-being of local people and welcoming to visitors from further afield.
• The importance of the Lon Las Cymru long-distance cycle path, and Rights of Way within the forests, will be recognised.
• The forests will be incorporated into the National Forest for Wales network over the next few years.
• Coed y Bont is managed in collaboration with the Coed y Bont Community Woodland Association. This woodland will continue to be managed as a community woodland with public access as a key objective. 

Forests and soil

• Apply good practice to limit damage to soils during harvesting and site preparation, considering if soil disturbance can be minimised by the choice of cultivation.
• Where appropriate use Low Impact Silvicultural Systems to provide better protection to soils in timber producing areas.
• Take opportunities (when carrying out forest operations) to disconnect old forest drains from watercourses, and improve buffer areas around watercourses to trap sediment and reduce threats to water quality from erosion.
• Continue the targeted programme of peatland restoration (implemented by the National Peatland Action Programme), to restore the hydrological and ecological function of deep peat areas, as per NRW / WG policy.
• This FRP supports the peatland programme by building the restoration into the long-term forest design, including habitat linkages with riparian and successional woodland.
• Peat restoration design shall be modified where necessary to accommodate (or improve) habitat connectivity for red squirrels, and to minimise damage to successional broadleaf woodland habitats when these occur on peat sites.

Forests and water

Water protection is crucial in the forests of the Cambrian Mountains, which surround the Llyn Brianne reservoir which supplies potable water to heavily-populated areas of south Wales. As well as the reservoir, water from the forest blocks drains into major rivers including the Teifi, Tywi and Irfon (which joins the Wye):

• Forest management shall protect watercourses and where possible improve water quality and river function, including taking measures to slow the flow in appropriate catchments,  and improve riparian habitats within the forest.
• All forestry work shall be planned to minimise impacts on acid-sensitive catchments, and adhere to UKFS guidance.
• Opportunities will be taken to improve riparian buffer areas, replacing conifer with open-canopied broadleaf woodland. As well as supporting habitat networks and providing appropriate levels of shade to watercourses, these areas act as “buffer zones” providing an extra level of protection to watercourses from potential impacts from forest operations.
• Peatland restoration areas will be integrated with riparian woodlands and successional woodland areas in the forest design.   

Summary of the main changes that will occur in the forest

• Continuing to restructure the forests so that they include a broader range of tree species and age-classes. This will make them more resilient to the impacts associated with climate change.
• Increasing the amount of forest managed under Low Impact Silvicultural Systems
• Reducing the size of future harvesting sites, and give better resilience to fire and wind damage, by introducing more rides and firebreaks, and making use of carefully-designed riparian woodlands.
• Increasing the area of native broadleaf woodlands. This will mainly be around streams and rivers, following natural landscape features.
• Improvements to water quality and protection, from broadening our streamside buffer areas, disconnection of old forestry drains, and improvements to operational practice.
• Gradually improve the visual amenity, taking advantage of forest operations to introduce more sensitive restocking which better suits the natural shape of the landscape.
• Extensive peatland restoration, including restoring ecological and hydrological functionality where this has been damaged by historic forestry practices. Peatland restoration areas shown in this FRP have been assigned and prioritised based on Welsh Government / NRW policy. 
• Habitat networks will be greatly improved. This FRP uses streams and rivers as the basis of a permanent habitat network, establishing a disturbance-free linkage between valley bottoms and open hill land, throughout working forests. The opportunity has been taken to improve the network further using rides, firebreaks and peatland restoration areas.
• Measures will be taken to improve habitats for the red squirrel population:
  • The FRP has identified potential “bottlenecks” where movement of the species is restricted, which could lead to fragmentation of the red squirrel population.
  • Short-term measures include retention of crops which are a food source, and establishments of quick-growing “corridors” where connectivity for the species is under particular pressure (i.e. where forestry clearfelling, and peatland restoration, are liable to restrict movement of red squirrel).
  • Longer-term connectivity will be improved by permanent retention of broadleaf / mixed successional woodland, which will be managed without clearfelling in future. Where feasible conifer crops will be managed using Low Impact Silvicultural Systems, improving canopy connectivity. Where this is not possible, our forest design will reduce the size of future clearfells.

Forest Resource Plan maps

Explanation of map legends

Maps are large pdf files, and will open in a new browser window. You may prefer to save them to your computer and view using pdf software. 

Map 1 - Long-term objectives

1-4 Tywi

5-6 Cwm Berwyn

7-8 Clywedog, Esgair Dafydd

9-12 Irfon, Garth Bank

Map 2 - Forest management systems

1-4 Tywi

5-6 Cwm Berwyn

7-8 Clywedog, Esgair Dafydd

9-12 Irfon, Garth Bank

Map 3 - Indicative forest types