Wales' highest mountain risks becoming a 'deathtrap for animals'
The Big Clean Up Yr Wyddfa returns tomorrow (Thursday, July 31) to tackle an issue that's been blighting the mountain for decades. Some litter, blown from the peak, has collected in steep gullies that are too dangerous to be reached by anyone other than specialist climbers.
Everything from sleeping bags to drink cans have steadily accumulated in the Trinity Gullies on the northeast side of Yr Wyddfa. Looking like streams of rubbish cascading down from the peak, it's thought some items may have been there for 100 years.
Tomorrow morning, a team of climbers will catch the first train on the Snowdon Mountain Railway, Llanberis. They will then abseil down a cliff face to reach the gullies on Clogwyn Y Garnedd.
The team will have been briefed by Plantlife Cymru to limit the damage to rare Alpine plants, some of which have become established within the waste streams.
Ecologist Robbie Blackhall-Miles said microplastic pollution is having 'serious impacts' on the mountain's fragile ecosystem.
Yr Wyddfa's littering, and the damage it causes, is being used to underpin calls for Deposit Return Schemes (DRS), where people bring back used drinks containers.
TTT's Dom Ferris said the group's research has shown that a fifth of animal interactions with litter ends in death. 'Our volunteers are increasingly finding examples of this occurring when an animal gets trapped inside a bottle or can,' he said.
'We know from European case studies that a DRS can eradicate a whole category of litter from our trails overnight. Why are we allowing beloved hiking spots such as Snowdon to be the alternative to a reverse vending machine?'
The three-day clean-up, organised by the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), ends on Saturday, August 2.
On that day, 40 volunteer walkers will hike up the Pyg Track to the upper Glaslyn bowl above Llyn Glaslyn, the lake beneath the Trinity Gullies. There, they will analyse and bag up litter removed by the climbers.
Launched last year, the 2024 event saw 2,765 items of litter removed by climbers and volunteers. Analysis showed:
62% of items removed were single-use products
More than 800 plastic water bottles were collected
Lucozade, Red Bull, Coca Cola and Monster were the most common brands removed from the Trinity Wall gullies and the popular Miner's Path.
Tom Carrick, BMC access and conservation officer for Wales, said gullies beneath the peak were natural debris traps.
'We're not talking about deliberate fly-tipping,' he said. 'Rubbish can be dropped accidentally by anyone, however careful they are, and blown away into these gullies.
'It's important to emphasise that everyone is welcome in the outdoors and the vast majority of the 600,000 people visiting Yr Wyddfa each year have great respect for the mountains and the environment – they would never dream of discarding any litter on purpose.'
Also on Saturday, the BMC will have an information tent at Pen-y-Pass, a popular starting point for Yr Wyddfa ascents. Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox
Visitors can take part in a 'rubbish raffle' or 'trail clean bingo cards' with the chance of winning Deuter backpacks – awarded for picking the most litter or having the 'most single-use-plastic-free lunches'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
6 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Could white storks return to London? Public's views sought on ‘talismanic' bird
The public is being asked for views on the potential return of white storks to London, as part of a project to see if the 'talismanic' birds could make a home in the capital. Long-vanished white storks have been reintroduced in southern England, leading to an 'explosion' in sightings across Greater London in recent years. Now conservationists are looking at whether the metre-tall birds, which are known to thrive in urban settings on the continent, could do the same in London. Community-focused urban rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo is conducting an appraisal on making London a 'white stork-friendly city', including habitat mapping, reaching out to boroughs across the capital to gauge their response and surveying the public about the birds. White storks could once be seen flying in Britain's skies and building their huge nests on roofs and buildings as well as in trees, but disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird due to hunting and habitat loss. Since 2016, the white stork project in Sussex has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured storks – which can act as a 'magnet' for wild birds that visit from the continent – at Knepp and Wadhurst Park, with the first successful breeding in 2020. In the four decades before the start of the project there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater London. But between 2016 and 2023 there have been 472 sightings in the capital, with the numbers increasing year-on-year, conservationists said. Citizen Zoo has worked with communities to bring beavers back to Ealing, reintroduce water voles in Surrey and restore wetlands in the capital, in efforts to bring city dwellers closer to nature, deliver wellbeing benefits and make London more resilient to climate change, and is now looking at white storks. The storks have wider ecological benefits for their habitat, creating huge nests which are homes and food sources for an array of species from insects to birds. But it is their ability to inspire people about nature that has been a key part of reintroduction efforts in the UK. Elliot Newton, co-founder and director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, told the PA news agency: 'These are a really talismanic, iconic species that really do draw and attract attention. 'You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it's quite obvious.' And he said: 'We realised in recent years we've seen an explosion in white stork recordings across Greater London. 'And if you look across European landscapes, this is a bird that can actually thrive in urban landscapes, on chimneys, on pylons, and are associated with thriving in urban settings. 'What we want to see is how can we make London a more white stork-friendly environment, and embrace it for its ability to inspire people about the nature we can and should have close to where we live.' He added: 'As humans we can dictate what our urban environments look like, we are the actual architects of these spaces. 'It's completely within our will as a species to choose the environments that we build around us and we can make that conscious choice to integrate more nature into our cities, and that will bring a whole wealth of benefits.' The survey is being led by the University of Brighton's Rachel White, with two phases that mirror a national survey she conducted as part of the white stork project in Sussex. The first phase of the study has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and a second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their view on white storks and their place in the capital. Dr White said: 'It is really important to be monitoring stakeholders' opinions and attitudes towards any reintroductions, because that's one of the main reasons that reintroduction projects fail – they haven't got the buy-in from the key stakeholders. 'It is really important to not assume, or to not just go ahead with projects, because you see the conservation value in it.' She said projects need to ensure a majority of people are onboard with a reintroduction, that the rationale has been clearly communicated and people have been given the opportunity to have their say. The national survey found overall people were very positive towards the species, even if they had never seen storks before, although there was a lack of knowledge about things such as the stork's diet, and even what they looked like. But a 'relatively small' number of people – often those who were ecologists, conservationists or birders – were not in favour of the reintroduction, largely because it was not a threatened species and they thought it should not be a priority for action, she added. The London survey will feed into the wider assessment by Citizen Zoo of the political and public enthusiasm and habitat availability for storks, and potential next steps such as creating more habitat to encourage natural colonisation or even a release similar to that in Sussex. However, Mr Newton added that 'nature has a fantastic tendency to surprise us', with the possibility storks could establish themselves in the capital of their own accord.
Leader Live
8 hours ago
- Leader Live
Could white storks return to London? Public's views sought on ‘talismanic' bird
Long-vanished white storks have been reintroduced in southern England, leading to an 'explosion' in sightings across Greater London in recent years. Now conservationists are looking at whether the metre-tall birds, which are known to thrive in urban settings on the continent, could do the same in London. Community-focused urban rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo is conducting an appraisal on making London a 'white stork-friendly city', including habitat mapping, reaching out to boroughs across the capital to gauge their response and surveying the public about the birds. White storks could once be seen flying in Britain's skies and building their huge nests on roofs and buildings as well as in trees, but disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird due to hunting and habitat loss. Since 2016, the white stork project in Sussex has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured storks – which can act as a 'magnet' for wild birds that visit from the continent – at Knepp and Wadhurst Park, with the first successful breeding in 2020. In the four decades before the start of the project there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater London. But between 2016 and 2023 there have been 472 sightings in the capital, with the numbers increasing year-on-year, conservationists said. Citizen Zoo has worked with communities to bring beavers back to Ealing, reintroduce water voles in Surrey and restore wetlands in the capital, in efforts to bring city dwellers closer to nature, deliver wellbeing benefits and make London more resilient to climate change, and is now looking at white storks. The storks have wider ecological benefits for their habitat, creating huge nests which are homes and food sources for an array of species from insects to birds. But it is their ability to inspire people about nature that has been a key part of reintroduction efforts in the UK. Elliot Newton, co-founder and director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, told the PA news agency: 'These are a really talismanic, iconic species that really do draw and attract attention. 'You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it's quite obvious.' And he said: 'We realised in recent years we've seen an explosion in white stork recordings across Greater London. 'And if you look across European landscapes, this is a bird that can actually thrive in urban landscapes, on chimneys, on pylons, and are associated with thriving in urban settings. 'What we want to see is how can we make London a more white stork-friendly environment, and embrace it for its ability to inspire people about the nature we can and should have close to where we live.' He added: 'As humans we can dictate what our urban environments look like, we are the actual architects of these spaces. 'It's completely within our will as a species to choose the environments that we build around us and we can make that conscious choice to integrate more nature into our cities, and that will bring a whole wealth of benefits.' The survey is being led by the University of Brighton's Rachel White, with two phases that mirror a national survey she conducted as part of the white stork project in Sussex. The first phase of the study has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and a second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their view on white storks and their place in the capital. Dr White said: 'It is really important to be monitoring stakeholders' opinions and attitudes towards any reintroductions, because that's one of the main reasons that reintroduction projects fail – they haven't got the buy-in from the key stakeholders. 'It is really important to not assume, or to not just go ahead with projects, because you see the conservation value in it.' She said projects need to ensure a majority of people are onboard with a reintroduction, that the rationale has been clearly communicated and people have been given the opportunity to have their say. The national survey found overall people were very positive towards the species, even if they had never seen storks before, although there was a lack of knowledge about things such as the stork's diet, and even what they looked like. But a 'relatively small' number of people – often those who were ecologists, conservationists or birders – were not in favour of the reintroduction, largely because it was not a threatened species and they thought it should not be a priority for action, she added. The London survey will feed into the wider assessment by Citizen Zoo of the political and public enthusiasm and habitat availability for storks, and potential next steps such as creating more habitat to encourage natural colonisation or even a release similar to that in Sussex. However, Mr Newton added that 'nature has a fantastic tendency to surprise us', with the possibility storks could establish themselves in the capital of their own accord. To take part in the survey, people can visit:
North Wales Chronicle
8 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Could white storks return to London? Public's views sought on ‘talismanic' bird
Long-vanished white storks have been reintroduced in southern England, leading to an 'explosion' in sightings across Greater London in recent years. Now conservationists are looking at whether the metre-tall birds, which are known to thrive in urban settings on the continent, could do the same in London. Community-focused urban rewilding organisation Citizen Zoo is conducting an appraisal on making London a 'white stork-friendly city', including habitat mapping, reaching out to boroughs across the capital to gauge their response and surveying the public about the birds. White storks could once be seen flying in Britain's skies and building their huge nests on roofs and buildings as well as in trees, but disappeared centuries ago as a breeding bird due to hunting and habitat loss. Since 2016, the white stork project in Sussex has sought to create new colonies of rehabilitated injured storks – which can act as a 'magnet' for wild birds that visit from the continent – at Knepp and Wadhurst Park, with the first successful breeding in 2020. In the four decades before the start of the project there were just 27 records of white storks across Greater London. But between 2016 and 2023 there have been 472 sightings in the capital, with the numbers increasing year-on-year, conservationists said. Citizen Zoo has worked with communities to bring beavers back to Ealing, reintroduce water voles in Surrey and restore wetlands in the capital, in efforts to bring city dwellers closer to nature, deliver wellbeing benefits and make London more resilient to climate change, and is now looking at white storks. The storks have wider ecological benefits for their habitat, creating huge nests which are homes and food sources for an array of species from insects to birds. But it is their ability to inspire people about nature that has been a key part of reintroduction efforts in the UK. Elliot Newton, co-founder and director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, told the PA news agency: 'These are a really talismanic, iconic species that really do draw and attract attention. 'You look up into the skies and see a white stork, it's quite obvious.' And he said: 'We realised in recent years we've seen an explosion in white stork recordings across Greater London. 'And if you look across European landscapes, this is a bird that can actually thrive in urban landscapes, on chimneys, on pylons, and are associated with thriving in urban settings. 'What we want to see is how can we make London a more white stork-friendly environment, and embrace it for its ability to inspire people about the nature we can and should have close to where we live.' He added: 'As humans we can dictate what our urban environments look like, we are the actual architects of these spaces. 'It's completely within our will as a species to choose the environments that we build around us and we can make that conscious choice to integrate more nature into our cities, and that will bring a whole wealth of benefits.' The survey is being led by the University of Brighton's Rachel White, with two phases that mirror a national survey she conducted as part of the white stork project in Sussex. The first phase of the study has involved surveying a representative sample of 1,000 Londoners, and a second phase is asking residents and frequent visitors to give their view on white storks and their place in the capital. Dr White said: 'It is really important to be monitoring stakeholders' opinions and attitudes towards any reintroductions, because that's one of the main reasons that reintroduction projects fail – they haven't got the buy-in from the key stakeholders. 'It is really important to not assume, or to not just go ahead with projects, because you see the conservation value in it.' She said projects need to ensure a majority of people are onboard with a reintroduction, that the rationale has been clearly communicated and people have been given the opportunity to have their say. The national survey found overall people were very positive towards the species, even if they had never seen storks before, although there was a lack of knowledge about things such as the stork's diet, and even what they looked like. But a 'relatively small' number of people – often those who were ecologists, conservationists or birders – were not in favour of the reintroduction, largely because it was not a threatened species and they thought it should not be a priority for action, she added. The London survey will feed into the wider assessment by Citizen Zoo of the political and public enthusiasm and habitat availability for storks, and potential next steps such as creating more habitat to encourage natural colonisation or even a release similar to that in Sussex. However, Mr Newton added that 'nature has a fantastic tendency to surprise us', with the possibility storks could establish themselves in the capital of their own accord. To take part in the survey, people can visit:
