Biodiversity of Wales

[1] Wales is a predominantly mountainous peninsula located between England and the Irish Sea, covering 8,023 square miles.

[1] On the coast, a great diversity of species such as seals, dolphins, sharks, jellyfish, crabs and lobsters can be found.

[1][3] The rare fen orchid (Liparis loeselii) is one of the most threatened species in northwestern Europe and has vanished from many places in Wales.

[4] The Welsh Government funds Natural Resources Wales (NRW), Plantlife, Bridgend County Borough Council and the Wales Biodiversity Partnership coastal ecosystem group to help reconstruct its natural habitat and secure the future of this threatened species.

Bog rosemary (Andromeda polifolia), a small flowering shrub, can be found in central Wales.

Other mammals include badgers, foxes, hares, hedgehogs, otters, rabbits, stoats, weasels, red squirrels, and 13 species of bat.

Dippers, choughs, puffins, guillemots, razorbills, short-eared owls, Manx shearwaters, whimbrel and plovers are also common.

[9] Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), a rare species in Britain, has several nesting places in Wales.

[9] Some sand lizards bred by Herpetological Conservation Trust volunteers and Chester and Jersey Zoos have been released into the wild.

[11] Native species include ash, birch, oak, willow, holly, juniper, Scots pine and yew.

The endangered species are: Bartramia stricta, Cryphaea lamyana, Ditrichum plumbicola, Hamatocaulis vernicosus, Pallavicinia lyellii, Petalophyllum ralfsii, Riccia huebeneriana and Sematophyllum demissum.

[17] The use of pesticides has caused a major decline in honeybees; a Pollinator Action plan was launched at the Royal Welsh Show in July 2012.

[22] Wales Biodiversity Partnership (WBP) organises the overall plan, and on a local scale, each council carries out its own surveys and reports back, then produces management and protection plants for the identified species and habitats.