Funding for over 600 trees for the Pembroke River Restoration Project has come from the Port of Milford Haven, which has also provided volunteers.

The pilot project was initiated through Pembroke Town Council following concerns from residents and businesses in the town about the increased nutrient levels in the Pembroke River and the Pembrokeshire Marine SAC into which it flows. Combined with high summer temperatures, the nutrients result in annual algal blooms in the Pembroke Millponds.

Supported by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Pembrokeshire County Council, the Port of Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, West Wales Rivers Trust, Dwr Cymru, Wildlife Trust South and West Wales, Pembroke Town Council and Pembrokeshire Nature Partnership, the Pembroke River Restoration Project team has set out to improve water quality, habitat creation and flood management.

Strategies include installing fencing to control the movement of livestock in and around watercourses, reducing nutrient input and siltation, and planting trees and woody material to reduce silt and encourage diverse stream flow.

Donating an assortment of trees such as hawthorn, alder, beech and downy birch, the Port of Milford Haven helped set up an acre of the river corridor. Port staff have also volunteered their time to help maintain the trees installed.

Eager volunteer Jack O’Shea, Energy and Decarbonisation Manager for the Port of Milford Haven, said: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside the organisations and individuals who have rallied together to bring this inspiring project to fruition and to have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to our local communities and the natural environment in which we operate and enjoy.”

Council Green Infrastructure Officer Peter Howe said: “This project is a landscape scale project. The help and support of the Port of Milford Haven on this part of the project has created a riverine woodland habitat which is beneficial to improving water quality”.

Andrew Lewis, lead NRW officer on the project added: “Hopefully, this project will show the benefits of similar intervention work to all our partners and to landowners. For the work to truly have an impact the work needs to be continued at a catchment scale.”