Port Talbot’s most prominent forest will be getting a makeover soon, when Forestry Commission Wales makes some changes to the trees that grow there.
The forest on the hillside of Mynydd Dinas overlooks Port Talbot and the M4 and provides a green backdrop to the industrial and residential areas.
Currently, it is made up of a mixture of trees, both conifer and broadleaf, but many of the Japanese larch trees, a deciduous conifer, have fallen victim to the fatal tree disease caused by Phytophthora ramorum.
The infected Japanese larch trees, which make up about 10% of the forest, will be felled over the next six months as part of Forestry Commission Wales’s strategy to minimise the impact of the outbreak of this serious disease.
The felling of these trees will mean that the native broadleaf trees and heathland that already exist on Mynydd Dinas will be able to regenerate naturally – sooner than originally anticipated in the Forest Design Plan for the site.
The gradual restoration of this native woodland will help preserve the special landscape character of the area, as well as providing habitats for species such as ground-nesting birds and butterflies.
After the felling of the Japanese larch is completed next year, Forestry Commission Wales will upgrade some of the roads that run through the forest to improve access for lorries to remove the timber from the site.
Although there may be restrictions to public access in parts of Mynydd Dinas forest while the felling takes place over the next six months, visitors will soon be able to use the upgraded roads as a walking route through the forest.
Forestry Commission Wales manages Mynydd Dinas forest on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government. Community Ranger Jonathan Price said, “Phytophthora ramorum is a serious tree disease and, by felling the infected trees in Mynydd Dinas forest, we hope to limit the production of the spores that spread the infection and therefore minimise the impact of the outbreak.
“The forest on Mynydd Dinas forms an important visual backdrop to Port Talbot, and the felling of these conifer trees will give us the opportunity to improve the views for the local community by restoring the site to a broadleaf native woodland.”
Phytophthora ramorum is a fungus-like pathogen which was first discovered on Japanese larch trees in South Wales in June 2010.
A programme to fell trees infected by Phytophthora ramorum is underway, and Forestry Commission Wales has worked with timber processors and others to ensure biosecurity measures are in place to allow logs from infected trees to be taken to mills for conversion into timber and wood products.
