A NEW restoration project will help restore valuable Wye Valley bog and heath habitats.

The superstars of the joint Natural Resources Wales/Wye Valley AONB scheme are four Belted Galloway cattle – named Ringo, Penguin, Ginger and Oak – who are grazing the land at the Cleddon Bog Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Beacon Hill.

And there’s no doubt that Nobel Prize-winning philosopher and writer Bertrand Russell – whose childhood home Cleddon Hall overlooks the ancient bog – would approve, alongside fellow superstar Stephen Hawking, who spent holidays with his in-laws just yards away at nearby Rose Cottage below Cleddon Falls, and loved the area.

The cows will help restore the rare habitats by helping control the scrub and crushing the dominant vegetation, allowing the sphagnum and other special bog plants, and the wildlife that depend upon them, a chance to thrive.

Cleddon Bog between Llandogo and Trellech is home to a number of unusual plant species, including bog asphodel and round-leaved sundew, a carnivorous, insect eating plant, and also supports a number of insects, which make perfect dining for species like bats.

As a peat bog, it helps to play a vital role in tackling climate change by locking away carbon as well as helping to regulate flood flows for the local community. Over the last 20 years, the water levels at the bog have dropped, and plants that prefer drier conditions, such as purple moor grass and birch have become more dominant, speeding up the drying process.

The nearby site at Beacon Hill, half-a-mile from Trellech, is a nationally important lowland heathland and one that supports a range of increasingly rare and vulnerable wildlife, including heathers, Bilberry, Heath Bedstraw, Eyebright and Lousewort.

It is also home to the secretive Nightjar that can be seen and heard on the heathland during the spring and summer months.

The land requires active management to keep the scrubby vegetation such as bracken, bramble and birch from encroaching, leading to the loss of this valuable habitat.

Areas of the heathland have been cleared over the past few years and introducing grazing to the site is an important part of the positive management of a diverse heathland habitat.

Grazing with cattle is an important management tool as they selectively graze the heathland plants and browse some of the invading birch scrub, helping to maintain a healthy balance between the habitat types.

In partnership with the Wye Valley AONB, ten local volunteers have been brought in and trained as ‘lookers’ to monitor the cattle and ensure their health and welfare through regular visual checks.

All the volunteers passed a LANTRA qualification in livestock checking.

The project is being funded by a small peatlands grant from NRW, and the cattle arrived at Cleddon Bog for a trial period in March and will spend the Spring and Summer on Beacon Hill.

Rosalind Watkins, Senior Land Management Officer for Natural Resources Wales said: “This has been a great opportunity for NRW to work with the AONB on a very important and exciting project.

“It has been a long-term aim to establish grazing at Cleddon Bog and Beacon Hill as it is an important part of the positive management of both habitats.

“I look forward to seeing the benefits this partnership project will have on the condition of these valuable habitats.”

Nickie Moore of Wye Valley AONB said: “We are thrilled to be working with our partners at NRW and local Commoners on a landscape scale, with three grazing schemes connecting the heathlands with the peatland - at Beacon Hill and Broad Meend (NRW Forestry Estate), where local commoners have been successfully conservation grazing with ponies for a number of years, and Cleddon bog.”

Alex Crawley of Conservation Grazing Management added: “We are looking forward to our belted Galloways helping to bring conservation benefits to this valuable and rare habitat.”

“It has been lovely to see how much interest there has been in conservation grazing and its value.”