Ceunant Llennyrch National Nature Reserve is one of several

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

reserves in the

Vale of Ffestiniog The Vale of Ffestiniog is a valley in the Snowdonia National Park in Gwynedd, North Wales. It stretches from Ffestiniog in the east and runs in a westerly direction towards Tremadog Bay, terminating near Porthmadog. The Afon Dwyryd runs thro ...

Gwynedd Gwynedd () is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The ci ...

, Wales and runs from

Llyn Trawsfynydd Llyn Trawsfynydd is a large artificial reservoir situated near the village of Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd, North Wales. With a total surface area of the reservoir is slightly more extensive than Wales's largest natural lake, Bala Lake at . History ...

to the

River Dwyryd The River Dwyryd (), is a river in Gwynedd, Wales which flows principally westwards; draining to the sea into Tremadog Bay, south of Porthmadog. Geography The Dwyryd rises in the hills to the north of Ffestiniog. At its most northern extent, w ...

, near the village of

Maentwrog Maentwrog () is a village and community in the Welsh county of Merionethshire (now part of Gwynedd), lying in the Vale of Ffestiniog just below Blaenau Ffestiniog, within the Snowdonia National Park. The River Dwyryd runs alongside the vil ...

. The reserve's broad expanse of woodland coats a steep-sided

gorge A canyon (; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), gorge or chasm, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tend ...

, through which the Afon Prysor cascades. At one point, the river is flanked by high cliffs, which face each other only apart. The high humidity offered by the falls creates the perfect environment for numerous damp-loving plants, due to the high humidity and high rainfall, it is technically a

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

Background

In December 2015, the forest was bought for a price of £1 million by

The Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

. The woodland has been there since the last ice age, and is so deep that apparently, some parts are untouched by humans.

Flora

The forest is exceptionally damp, creating the perfect habitat for nature to flourish. There are over 200 species of liverwort, many forms of moss and lichen too. Trees include sessile oaks, as well as

beech Beech (genus ''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to subtropical (accessory forest element) and temperate (as dominant element of Mesophyte, mesophytic forests) Eurasia and North America. There are 14 accepted ...

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

and

silver birch ''Betula pendula'', commonly known as silver birch, warty birch, European white birch, or East Asian white birch, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to Europe and parts of Asia, though in southern Europe, it is only found ...

. Lichens form on these birches, such as ''Graphina ruiziana'' and ''Parmeliella horrescens''. However, the conditions are not kind to flowering plants, due to the shady and damp nature of the environment. The only population of '' Pyrenula hibernica'' in Wales is found at Ceunant Llennyrch and was first described in 2005.

Fauna

The animals of the woodland are also thriving, with many small mammals such as the

wood mouse The wood mouse (''Apodemus sylvaticus'') is a Muridae, murid rodent native to Europe and northwestern Africa. It is closely related to the yellow-necked mouse (''Apodemus flavicollis'') but differs in that it has no band of yellow fur around the ...

otter Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which includes weasels, badgers, mink, and wolverines, among ...

and

bank vole The bank vole (''Clethrionomys glareolus'') is a small vole with red-brown fur and some grey patches, with a tail about half as long as its body. A rodent, it lives in woodland areas and is around in length. The bank vole is found in much of Eu ...

making their homes near the river. Otters have difficulty with food, as the acidity of the river water means that fish are not in abundance.

Woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family (biology), family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme ...

common redstart The common redstart (''Phoenicurus phoenicurus''), or often simply redstart, is a small passerine bird in the genus '' Phoenicurus''. Like its relatives, it was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, (Turdidae), but is now known to be ...

s and

European pied flycatcher The European pied flycatcher (''Ficedula hypoleuca'') is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. One of the four species of Western Palearctic black-and-white flycatchers, it bird hybrid, hybridises to a limited extent with th ...

s are amongst the most common birds present. In terms of predators, the mice and voles are easy prey for a

buzzard Buzzard is the common name of several species of birds of prey. ''Buteo'' species * Archer's buzzard (''Buteo archeri'') * Augur buzzard (''Buteo augur'') * Broad-winged hawk (''Buteo platypterus'') * Common buzzard (''Buteo buteo'') * Easte ...

, which are frequently spotted.First-nature.com. http://www.first-nature.com/waleswildlife/n-nnr-meirionydd-oaks.php

References

{{National nature reserves in Wales National nature reserves in Wales Nature reserves in Gwynedd Maentwrog Talsarnau