The Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales has been using grazing animals to improve grasslands on their reserves as part of its Healthy Resilient Grasslands Project, made possible thanks to Nature Network Funding.

“They are working to benefit our grassland habitats and species 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year, delivering conservation outcomes that no human or machine could ever achieve”, that’s how Paul Thornton, WTSWW Reserves Manager for Swansea, Neath-Port Talbot and Carmarthenshire, describes the ponies and cattle working on the Trust’s nature reserves.

On Gower, the funding has enabled the purchase of equipment and infrastructure to give livestock keepers the confidence to put grazing animals onto challenging coastal reserves. As a result of these partnerships, some of the rarest plants in the UK, including Goldilocks Aster, can now be found flourishing. This species was believed to be lost from the site, but its discovery shows the value of conservation grazing on the Trust’s coastal grasslands.

Thanks to grazing at Rhos Fullbrook Nature Reserve in Ceredigion the number of Marsh Fritillary butterflies has increased, which bucks the trend seen on a national and local level. Over 50 larval webs were recorded in 2024, which is the highest number ever recorded on this site since monitoring began in 1983. The highland cattle have helped to restore Rhos pasture, a unique type of wet grassland on which this species of butterfly depends on. Marsh Fritillaries are one of most threatened butterfly species in the UK and their recovery at this site is testament to the habitat management of the Trust. Grazing was made possible thanks to 800m of new fencing and an access gate funded through the Nature Networks Fund.

At Allt Rhongyr, a 30-hectare nature reserve within the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park, a new virtual fencing system has transformed the way the Trust can manage grazing animals. The Nature Networks Fund allowed 8 new solar-powered GPS collars to be bought for the Devon Red cows that were chosen to graze the site, a small hardy native breed. The virtual fencing system will allow the Trust to move the grazing pressure around the site where needed. These cows will help to keep Bracken and Bramble at bay, allowing the wildflower and waxcap fungi species on site to thrive.

People have also benefitted from the Healthy Resilient Grasslands Project. The funding has enabled numerous volunteer workdays, guided walks with local experts and helped to improve access across their grassland reserves, to ensure a wider audience can engage with the Trust’s work and wild spaces.

Stephanie Coates, WTSWW Reserve Officer, said “the Resilient Grasslands Project has allowed us to try something new. But this is just the start. We will need to monitor, evaluate and adjust how we graze and manage the site over the coming years for the benefit of people and wildlife.”

This project is funded by the Nature Networks Programme. It is being delivered by the Heritage Fund, on behalf of the Welsh Government.